STOB.L Share News (STOB)

The Executive Chairman of multi-modal logistics and warehousing group Stobart will step down later this spring after the group announced it was expecting to report results "moderately ahead of market expectations" in its upcoming annual results.In a financial update issued on Tuesday, the group reported that it had signed a new three year contract with Tesco, which will run until February 29th 2016. The agreement formalises previous arrangements with Tesco, to which the group had been providing both primary and secondary distribution services on a pay-as-you-go basis for the past eight years. Against the trading background, the group said that the board had decided that the role of Executive Chairman was no longer "appropriate" and reported that Avril Palmer-Baunack would stand down from the role with immediate effect. Palmer-Baunack will remain on the board as non-executive chairman until an independent Non-Executive Chairman is appointed and the group said it expected that Palmer-Baunack's departure would be on or around the release of the group's results on May 16th 2013. In addition, the group said that Senior Independent Director, Alan Kelsey, had indicated his intention to leave the board at the same time as Palmer-Baunack. Rodney Baker-Bates, who had previously announced his retirement, will remain on the board as a Non-Executive Director to assist until a new Chairman is appointed.MF