Shares tumble 20% as ground engineering firm is hit by project delays and austerity measures
Shares at ground engineering firm Keller have plunged 20% following a profit warning.
The company blamed project delays and deteriorating market conditions in Europe and elsewhere for the profit downgrade.
Keller said full year pre-tax profit would be between 拢21m and 拢23m, around 拢10m below market forecasts.
Real-time Share PriceKeller said that trading on the continent was difficult. It said there were in sufficient privately-financed projects to 鈥渢ake up the slack left by government austerity programmes鈥�.
In a statement to the stock exchange the firm also announced it had shut a regional office in the UK, its third such closure in two years.
It said the highly uncertain macro-economic outlook threatened any significant recovery.
It said: 鈥榃hile our growth markets continue to offer good prospects in the medium term, the overall picture remains challenging.鈥�
Keller said that it had been hit by delays in the start of a few large projects, particularly in India.
The company posted a 70% fall in pre-tax profit for the first half, which in blamed on floods in Australia and political unrest in north Africa and the Middle East.
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