Chemring, the defence group, had a terrible 2012, but it has begun the new year brightly and is currently sitting pretty at the top of the FTSE 250 risers.
Its shares (an admission, they are my Guardian share tip of the year) have climbed 12.5p to 250.8p after it announced the appointment of a new finance director, former Umeco executive Steve Bowers. It has had an interim finance director in place since the departure of the previous incumbent in March. The news follows the appointment of Mark Papworth as chief executive after a year which saw two profit warnings and a failed bid from US group Carlyle.
Analyst Andrew Gollan at house broker Investec said:
This is a another small but important step in re-building investor confidence as the company stabilises and addresses the multiple operational issues that adversely impacted profitability. It is still early days in this respect and risks remain, although increasingly we are seeing them as market related (as for all defence companies) rather than unforeseen operational risks.
We regard [Steve Bowers] highly and the market should welcome a further strengthening of the executive team charged with steering the group after a difficult year. The next important update is final results on 24 January when the chief executive will present his view on strategic priorities. We retain our buy based on recovery potential and a steadily improving risk/reward profile.
