£80m wiped off technology firm’s value in first hour

TECHNOLOGY company Servelec’s share price plummeted yesterday following a profit warning.

The Sheffield firm’s share price fell 35% in the first hour of trading after it issued the warning.

Its shares fell 121p to 219p at 9am, wiping £80m off the company’s value.

The company’s shares closed on 237p.

Although the Sheffield-based firm had been trading close to its all-time high since it went public at the end of 2013, this morning’s slump has returned its share price close to its value at flotation.

Sheffield-based Servelec announced this morning that it was issuing a profit warning following delays in contracts.

Alan Stubbs, chief executive officer of Servelec said earlier: “I am disappointed to have to report the difficult trading conditions that have impacted our outlook for FY16.

“We don’t believe that this reflects upon the quality or scale of the opportunities across our target end markets. However, some end markets are currently challenging and timing of order entry has become a short term issue.

“As such the management has adjusted our outlook and have taken swift and prudent action to reallocate the resources of the Group and reduce costs.”

In 2015, Servelec generated pre-tax profits of £13.3m on revenues of £63m.