Share price plummets at FTSE 250 firm

MORE than £130m has been wiped off the value of Sheffield building products giant SIG following a profit warning on Friday morning.

The company’s share price dropped 21% in its first hour of trading after the company forecast the third consecutive year of profit decline.

Shares closed at 116p on Thursday night, but were trading around 90p in the first hour Friday morning. They closed at 90.5p on Friday.

Around £130m was wiped off its market capitalisation, with its value down to £550m.

The FTSE 250 building products giant downgraded its underlying pre-tax profit forecasts this morning to between £75m and 80m, down from full year profits of £87.4m last year.

The news of the profit warning came simultaneously to the announcement that chief executive Stuart Mitchell would be stepping down after four years at the helm.

The last time SIG experienced a major drop was in October last year after it warned that weakening demand would affect its bottom line. Full year profit expectations were pulled lower on the announcement.

SIG share price graph over the past year, Google Finance