Findel PLC (LON:FDL) appointed a new chief executive as the British home shopping company said it expects annual profits to miss market forecasts.
The group, which owns Express Gifts and Findel Education, announced Phil Maudsley will take over as chief executive from Ian Burke, who has moved to a non-executive chairman role.
Maudsley was formally managing director of Express Gifts, which sells clothing, greeting cards, girls and home items. Paul Kendrick, deputy manager of Express Gifts, will succeed Maudsley.
The announcement came as Findel said it sees full year profit before tax and exceptional items coming in "slightly below" the bottom end of market estimates of £25.5mln to £26.0mln.
The company has booked a further £11mln provision to provide compensation to consumers who were sold insurance products that “that offered little or no value” through Express Gifts.
Findel has entered into a redress scheme with the Financial Conduct Authority after a probe found its insurance against accidental damage and theft for products from its Ace or Studio brands did not provide adequate cover to customers. It has agreed to provide £12.5mln in compensation for around 330,000 customers.
Still, Express Gifts delivered a 14% increase in Total sales during the full year with a 16% rise in product sales. Customer numbers have increased 21% for the first 13 weeks since the start of the calendar year.
However, the Findel Education business - which supplies educational resources such as stationary, computers and arts and crafts - continued to experience difficult market conditions. Like-for-like sales in the division are expected to fall 4%.
Total like-for-like sales for the group as a whole in the full year is forecast to edge up 10%, supported by a strong second half.