17th Nov 2015 10:55
LONDON (Alliance News) - Coats Group PLC Tuesday reported a fall in sales in the first ten months of 2015 as a result of unfavourable movements in foreign exchange rates, and said it is delisting from the New Zealand and Australia stock exchanges.
The industrial thread and consumer textile crafts company said group sales fell 4.0% in the year to October 31, and 6.0% from July 1 to end-October. The industrial business saw sales decline 3.0% in the ten months and 5.0% in the four months, while sales in the crafts business decreased 11% in the ten months and 9.0% in the four months.
Coats said its results were in line with management expectations and were hit by the strength of the US dollar against the Brazilian real and euro.
The company added that it expects to deliver a year-on-year improvement in pre-exceptional operating profit. Adjusted earnings per share will grow ahead of pre-exceptional operating profit as a result of improvements in the underlying tax rate and lower interest charges on borrowings, but reported earnings per share will be hit by non-operating charges such as discontinued items related to the sale of EMEA Crafts in July, it said.
In a separate statement, Coats said it intends to delist from the NZX Main Board in New Zealand and the Australian Securities Exchange on June 24, 2016.
"We are now a UK headquartered, global industrial manufacturing business, having moved away from our New Zealand investment company past. All major investments apart from the Coats business have been sold, culminating in the company changing its name from Guinness Peat Group to Coats Group. We have no material operations or executive directors in New Zealand or Australia and earlier this year Sir Ron Brierley ended his long association with the company by stepping down from the board and selling the majority of his shares," Chairman Mike Clasper said in a statement.
"These changes have contributed to a significant shift in our shareholder register, with more than 65% of shareholders now UK based and less than 20% in New Zealand and Australia. For these reasons the board believes the benefits of moving to a single London listing outweigh those of remaining on the NZX and ASX," he added.
Shares in Coats Group were trading down 3.5% at 28.00 pence Tuesday morning.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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