Uniq chairman Nigel Stapleton has promised stronger support for its brands and further cost cutting measures across the business to restore the fortunes of the ailing convenience foods specialist. Uniq shares nosedived after the company warned profits for both the half and the full year would be "substantially below" forecasts made less than two months previously at the agm. Management failure was widely blamed for the problems at the company, which reported disappointing sales at its French business and a lack of profitability at its St Ivel yogurts business. Analysts said the departure of chief executive Terry Stannard was inevitable after things had gone "horribly wrong". Stapleton has taken the helm while a replacement CEO is found. He said: "Branding and marketing is the key to get Uniq back on a stronger footing. "I would be the first to acknowledge some of the problems at St Ivel have been of our own making. After 18 years at Unilever, I appreciate the importance of branding." Options being explored for St Ivel include working with a partner to take on market leader Müller as a strong number two. Analysts said the management had steered the company into the no man's land between being a branded player and an own label manufacturer. At the same time, the drain on resources due to volatile assets like Malton, prevented it from supporting brands like St Ivel properly. Competing yogurt manufacturers had frozen prices to boost market share, as in the case of Müller, or, like Northern Foods, had managed to push through price rises to protect the bottom line. St Ivel, meanwhile, had destroyed margins with price cuts and still failed to gain market share, said one analyst: "It is baffling how St Ivel ended up in such a state." It could be January or February before a ceo is recruited, said Stapleton: "We are taking our time to find the best candidate." {{NEWS }}