ULTRA ELECTRONICS SHARES SHOT DOWN
ULTRA Electronics shares fell 297p to 1230p after the defence contractor sounded a profit warning and chief executive Rakesh Sharma departed.
About £240million was wiped from the FTSE 250 company, whose services include naval surveillance and fire control systems.
It expects to post annual underlying operating profit of £120million compared with market forecasts of £132million.
Ultra said: “There is mounting pressure in the funding of UK defence programmes and this has resulted in the Ministry of Defence pausing, cancelling or delaying programmes.”
Chairman Douglas Caster has taken over as CEO until a successor is found for Sharma, who was with Ultra for 28 years.