THE directors who won the battle of the boardroom at Silentnight have issued a shock profits warning just days after taking control.

The new board, brought in by the Clarke family which founded the Salterforth-based business, made the announcement after reviewing the books.

And in a statement to the Stock Exchange, Silentnight revealed that a total of £560,000 had been paid in 'termination costs' to chairman Keith Ackroyd and chief executive Bill Simpson, who quit the business last week.

The profits warning is the second to be issued this year by the company.

Within hours of the announcement, its share price slumped by more than 11 per cent to 134.5p, wiping millions of pounds off the group's value.

The boardroom bust-up began last month when Famco Holdings, the trust fund set up by Silentnight's late founder Tom Clarke, announced its intentions to take the business private.

The management team resisted the move, arguing that the price offered for the shares Famco did not already own "substantially undervalued" the company.

But with Famco controlling 50.5 per cent of the shares, it was clear the Clarke family would win back control and both Keith Ackroyd and Bill Simpson bowed to the inevitable and resigned.

Silentnight appointed Nino Allenzo as chief executive and, on Monday, he began a review of the latest group management accounts.

In its statement to the Stock Exchange, the company said: "It is evident that trading conditions have become more challenging across most of our businesses and that this will impact on the second half results."

The company conceded it would not meet market expectations, but promised that group profitability for the full year would not be below £5 million.