Software troubles

MICRO Focus shares plunged 11pc after bosses said a botched merger had set their plans back by a year.

The FTSE 100 company, which bought Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s software arm last year for £7bn, said sales would be substantially below what they expected. For the six months to April 30, Micro Focus said revenues had fallen 8pc when compared to the same period in the previous year.

It comes after it issued a profit warning in March. Yesterday the firm said it expected revenues to fall by up to 9pc in the full year to the end of October.