Shares in engineering consultancy WYG (WYG) dropped almost a fifth after the group warned that UK profitability would be weaker than expected during the 12 months to March 2017. Deferrals on existing contracts and delays in the confirmation of new contracts led management to downgrade expected operating profits to around £9m.
Chief executive Paul Hamer said the delays were caused by Brexit uncertainty, but was quick to add that the group had not seen any project cancellations or opportunities being taken off the table. He said he expected to see the work materialise in the first quarter of its 2018 financial year.
Shareholders may have been spooked by another support services company blaming referendum-related project delays for cutting forecasts, as was seen with Capita (CPI) last September. However, underlying operating profits are still expected to increase by at least a fifth on last year and represent a fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth or higher.
