Consultant expects pre-tax profts of 拢30.5m following 2,000 redundancies

Mouchel has warned that profits before tax and exceptional items will drop to 拢30.5m for the year ended 31 July 2010.

In a trading update the consultant said 鈥渢aking into account the challenging business environment and the likelihood that this environment may harden, the Group has decided to take a more cautious view of the final settlement of a number of current project claims鈥�.

Since January 2009 the firm has reduced its headcount by more than 2,000 and expects to make a one-off cost payment of around 拢23m to cover this, all of which will be taken as an exceptional charge.

The group鈥檚 year-end net bank borrowings stood at 拢83.5m and the firm is in discussions with its banks on the refinancing of its existing loan facilities.

Preliminary results will be announced on 28 October.

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