Essentra blames itself after third warning to City

The new chief executive of cigarette filters maker Essentra blamed “self-inflicted” problems for its third profit warning in seven months.

Paul Forman, who joined from zips maker Coats three weeks ago, said a “lack of clarity” and “loss of skills and experience” had dented performance.

Profit expectations were marked down below the £137 million to £145 million forecast in November.

In June it was predicting profits of £155 million to £165 million, itself a downgrade from forecasts made in February 2016. Shares fell 5% to 420.2p.

Its health and consumer packaging unit was the source of the problems this time after a “significant decline” in November and December.

“The issues we are facing are not market related, they are self-inflicted,” Forman said. He was “deeply sceptical” of how Essentra was organised and had formed a “Swat team” to conduct an operational review.

The company added that it expects to complete the divestment of its Porous Technologies business during the first quarter of 2017.