Alfa Financial shares tumble as project delays hit earnings

ALFA Financial Software was the FTSE 250’s biggest faller yesterday after the company disclosed that one of its major customers had delayed an implementation project that would have netted the tech company millions of pounds in revenue.

Its forecasts for this year were also affected by two other potential delays to IT projects, which were expected to start in 2018 but will now be launched in 2019 due to customers changing their plans.

The company said the various problems would have a “significant” impact on its trading this year and as a result it had scaled down its 2018 revenue guidance to between £71m and £75m, compared to £87.8m last year.

Shares in the company dropped 130p, or 41.3pc, to 185p on the news, which chief executive Andrew Denton said was “outside [the company’s] control”.

He said he was “absolutely focused” on making sure that the contracts did eventually go ahead so that the company’s “growth momentum” was restored.

Alfa, which provides software for the financial industry and has clients including Barclays, Mercedes-benz and Bank of America, floated on the stock exchange last year. Its directors had been prohibited from offloading more of Alfa for a year, but their 12-month lock-in has now ended. Elsewhere, Johnson

Matthey shook off concerns about it finances to finish the day 142p up at £36.55, a record high.

The company, which is one of the world’s largest suppliers of catalytic converters, reported on Thursday that its profits had slid by almost a third on the back of restructuring costs and a legal charge.

But a note from Deutsche Bank suggested that the company was undervalued, and that its share in the European diesel light duty vehicle market particularly could improve. It could also benefit from increased cost savings, analysts said, suggesting its outlook was not as bleak as initially feared. Analysts at Credit Suisse and Exane also raised their price targets for the stock.

Funeral operator Dignity felt the pressure after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched a £2bn inquiry into Britain’s funeral markets amid fears that many firms exploit grieving families.

Shares in the company, which is one of two major players in the sector alongside Co-op Funeralcare, plunged by as much as 236p during trading, finishing 165p down at £10.50.

It was a better day for online clothing retailer

Boohoo, which this week unveiled its autumn/winter collection via a huge launch event.

Analysts suggested that the brand’s men’s offer could be a good performer this year – it recently ran an advertising campaign with footballer Dele Alli, and the range has been expanded.

Shares in the company closed 9.5p higher yesterday at 213.4p.

Overall, the FTSE 100 finished 23.57 points higher at 7,701.77, while the

FTSE 250 gained 138.66 to 20,984.92.