By Claire Reilly, Current.com.au

The chairman of the board of Thorn Group, the company responsible for the Radio Rentals and Rentlo store chains, has announced that he will be stepping down from the position in September of this year.

According to a statement from the company, Bernard Carrasco announced that he will step down as chairman of the board on 30 September 2011, and will retire as a director in March 2012.

The Thorn Group board has resolved to appoint David Carter as chair from 1 October 2011. Carter is currently chairman of Thorn’s Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee, a position that he will step down from on becoming chairman of the board.

Previously a partner of a major international law firm, Carter “has significant experience in corporate, commercial and international law,” the statement from Thorn Group read.

Thorn Group also acknowledged Carrasco’s "contribution as Thorn’s Chairman since the company went public in December 2006. In that time Thorn delivered outstanding results for its shareholders and quadrupled its share price.”

Today’s announcement follows the release of Thorn’s annual report to shareholders last week, in which the company announced a net profit of $23 million for the year ending March 2011, up 40 per cent on the previous year.

This article first appeared on Current.com.au