The financial crisis at Alterian deepened yesterday with the company failing to halt the shares slide, which has seen its value crash from £120m to £60m on the back of two profit warnings.
The Bristol-based business has also warned of more bad news on Monday, when it plans to issue a “fuller statement” once it has “undertaken work on the closing financial position”.
One City analyst said: “What’s next? The deal-slippage announced on April 4 was at least explainable, but this announcement adds a lot of uncertainty to the story and investors will doubtless demand greater clarity on budget and operational controls.”
Last week the company, which supplies software to multinational brand owners and government departments including Pfizer, Vodafone, HSBC, Bank of America and Dell, warned that sales would be 10 per cent below market expectations which would lead to a “material effect on profits”. It blamed the drop on its failure to renew one lucrative contract, from an undisclosed client.
Alterian’s founder and chief executive David Eldridge took personal responsibility for the “disappointing” performance, and resigned.
“The results for the year will be disappointing, principally as a result of the deferral of a major expected contract renewal and extension,” he said. “I take my responsibilities seriously and am stepping down from my role as the chief executive of Alterian.”
Earlier this week it issued yet another profits warning, saying that its full-year profits will be “materially lower than that implied” just ten days previously. This saw its share price slump 54 to 111½p, valuing Alterian at £66m. Yesterday it fell further to just over 103p, rising slightly to close on 104½p.
