Last checked at 8 Feb 2010 10:21
8 February 2010
CORAL PRODUCTS PLC
INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
Coral Products PLC (the Company) presents its Interim Management Statement as at 8 February 2010 as required by the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rule 4.3.
The Company published its Interim Report for the six month period to 30 October 2009 on 2 December 2009. This Interim Management Statement summarises any further relevant information for the period since that announcement.
Material Events and Transactions
The Company is introducing kitchen and kerbside food waste containers principally to serve the recycling market. The initial response to these new products is encouraging and we are pleased to announce that in January 2010 we were appointed by the Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation and the Central Buying Consortium to supply its range of kerbside crates, lids and dividers together with its kitchen and kerbside food caddies under a three year refuse and recycling product Framework Agreement. Under this Agreement we have been awarded joint supplier status in a range of products covering a wide geographical area of the UK.
Trading Activity
Sales of media based products performed at the top end of our expectations in the final months of 2009, however, demand has started slowly in 2010 and these products continue to be affected by the difficult economic conditions. Expectations are that turnover of DVD cases will improve in line with the launch of several new films this year. Some additional capital expenditure is necessary in order to introduce a lightweight box with improved environmental qualities. Sales for household items have remained in line with forecast and will improve as new products come into production in the next few weeks.
Operating margins have recently been under pressure from increases in raw material prices due to supply constraints. It is difficult to pass on these increases in the current market conditions.
We remain optimistic that our diversification into new products and markets will be justified in the medium term but this will be a gradual process and we still rely on media packaging products as our core business.
Financial Position
The financial position continues to be satisfactory with facilities available for further capital investment. The payback period for the new investment is anticipated to be short and will enable a quick increase in capacity as demand grows.
For further information call:
Stephen Fletcher
Company Secretary
Coral Products PLC 01942 272882