Shares in Speedy Hire plunged by almost 50% as news of a profit fall emerged yesterday.
The tool and equipment hire firm saw shares fall 45% after saying they expected pre-tax profits for the year to be between £33m and £38m.

Although, still good figures Speedy had last year announced profits of £48.1 million last year.

The firm had expected profits to dip and announced 500 jobs cuts towards the end of last year after reporting lower than hoped for results for October.

At that time the firm had announced a half-year rise in pre-tax profits to 23.8m, up 3.9%, with revenues of £265.2m.

But, this was 6% down on the expected target prompting the firm to take early action to ensure it can weather an increasingly gloomy market.