Diploma CEO steps down after four months in charge

(Reuters) - Diploma Plc's (DPLM.L) Chief Executive Richard Ingram has stepped down after just four months in charge, the technical products and services provider said on Wednesday, giving no further details on the reasons for his departure and putting non-executive director John Nicholas in interim charge.

Shares in the company fell 4.6 percent on opening in London.

"The board believes that a change in CEO is in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders," Nicholas said in a statement issued along with the company's full-year results.

"The Board is fully committed to the Group's successful long term strategy and, as reported in today's Trading Update, the

Company continues to perform well," he added.

Ingram, formerly president of Smiths Detection, a unit of engineering company Smiths Group Plc (SMIN.L), joined the company's board on April 23 after his appointment was announced in January.

In a separate statement, Diploma said full-year results would be in-line with expectations, adding that it expects overall revenue to be up 7 percent for the full-year.

Operating margins for the year is also expected to be in-line with expectations, Diploma said.

Its Life Sciences business is expected report a 6 percent revenue rise, helped by a strong contribution from its acquisition of Australian diagnostic business Abacus dx, the company said.

(Reporting by Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham)