Last checked at 10 Sep 2008 12:06
10 September 2008
CORAL PRODUCTS PLC
INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
Coral Products PLC (the Company) presents an interim management statement for the period since 30 April 2008 as required by the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rule 4.3.
The Company published its Annual Report on 31 July 2008 for the year ended 30 April 2008. This interim management statement summarises any further relevant information for the period since that report.
The period since 1 May 2008 has seen the difficult trading conditions continue. Raw material and power costs increased to unprecedented levels and, whilst demand improved on last year, trading margins has been further eroded. Our policy of ensuring adequate stock levels to meet forecast demand has inevitably put a strain on our cash position although to date we have been able to operate within our banking facilities. It is difficult to obtain short-term finance in the current economic conditions so there is limited headroom.
However, we are now entering our seasonally busy period and forecast demand is high through the remainder of 2008. We also expect raw material prices to ease somewhat, enabling trading results to improve.
To improve the company's prospects beyond this year we continue to actively pursue sources of non -media business but, whilst we have had a number of promising leads, we continue to experience delays in translating these into firm orders. We can no longer rely upon our established media products business, which is so vulnerable to declines in customer demand, so our aim is to obtain more business from non-seasonal sources, which can help to support our existing operations.
For further information call:
Warren Ferster
Chief Executive
Coral Products PLC
01942 272882