Cornwell Parker reacted to dismal results with the swift removal of chief executive James Moore, who was replaced with Robert Alcock. Four years of stagnant turnover were brought to a sharp end with a 13% slide to £79.6m. Pre-tax profits fell by almost two-thirds to £3.22m. The group has been locked in marathon merger talks since the beginning of the year, but has kept the identity of potential bidders well under wraps, having paid the £800,000 cost of due diligence so as to avoid a period of exclusivity with any buyer. However, no deal has yet been struck. A final dividend of 3p was proposed, bringing the total to 4.5p (4p).