Drax shares fall after finance director quits

(Adds share price, analyst comment, background)

LONDON, April 29 (Reuters) - British power producer Drax is searching for a new finance director after the unexpected resignation of Tony Quinlan, the company said on Wednesday, sending its shares down more than 3 percent.

Quinlan, who has been at Drax for seven years, will become chief financial officer at electronic components maker Laird on July 1. Drax's head of corporate finance, Michael Scott, will take over from Quinlan on an interim basis from May 31. Quinlan's service agreement with Drax terminates on June 30.

"This move was not widely expected. However, we do not see anything sinister here, and the transition plans seem reasonable," said Whitman Howard analyst Angelos Anastasiou.

Drax shares were down 3.3 percent at 1030 GMT.

Before joining Drax in 2008, Quinlan served in a number of senior positions at retailer Marks & Spencer (Other OTC: MAKSF - news) .

"The board will now start a process to appoint a new finance director as soon as practicable," Drax said.

At Laird, Quinlan will replace Jonathan Silver who is standing down as a director on May 8 but has agreed to continue until August 8, the company said. (Reporting by Karolin Schaps; editing by Jeremy Gaunt and David Clarke (Toronto: CKI.TO - news) )