There are few certainties in life perhaps, but along with death and taxes it may well be worth adding avoiding shares in Jarvis.

The rail maintenance contractor managed to wipe about 拢80m off its value after it slashed its profit forecasts by more than 60%.

You don鈥檛 have to be an elephant to recall the firm鈥檚 debt for equity swap, the end of a process of decline that began with the Potters Bar train crash.

But the latest bad share day looks to have come from a sudden realisation in the board room that the company isn鈥檛 working on terribly profitable contracts (thanks to low quality rail work, uncertainty in its plant business and a move by Network Rail to buy its own vans instead of hiring them from Jarvis).

KBC Peel Hunt, Jarvis鈥� broker, said that the profit warning was 鈥渉ighly disappointing and unexpected鈥�. Small wonder: KBC recently put out a note on Jarvis, saying 鈥渨e believe the shares have the potential to rise substantially over the next year or so鈥�.

Topics