Profit warning for Coral Products

CORAL Products, the DVD-case and food container manufacturer, has warned its profits will be substantially below the market’s revised expectations.

The AIM-listed Haydock company said in February that it had suffered a period of poor trading, and it announced today that this trend had continued.

It said: “Media sales, especially DVD sales, have been very disappointing in the last two months and are a major factor in the poor second half.

“Local authority cuts have had some effect on the group’s recycling division and the extended cold weather has impacted on the launch of the group’s new ice cream food packaging products.”

However, the board expects to return an overall profit for the year with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) having shown “significant growth”. It also said the sale of HMV and Blockbuster had stabilised the DVD market and it was now seeing signs of increased activity.

The acquisition of its base in Haydock is expected to save around £250,000 over the next financial period.