Spire falls by 10pc as it warns of building delay

THE FTSE 100 edged its way across the line to a thirteenth consecutive climb.

The market tiptoed forward just 0.03pc, or 1.88 points, to another record finish of 7292.37. Primark owner Associated Brit

ish Foods was the greatest faller, down 4.5pc, or 122p, to 2576p after a disappointing update.

Spire Healthcare spiralled after redevelopment work hit profits. Building at its St Anthony’s Hospital in the London borough of Sutton has taken longer than expected. The hospital, which made a £5m profit in 2015, is expected to report a loss of £1.5m for 2016.

Spire said it would not fully complete the overhaul of the site until the second half of the year. Changes to the NHS tariff had also dragged back revenue by around £7m over the past nine months.

Spire expects to see a reduction in the services it provides to the NHS of around 3.9pc. It gets around 30pc of its revenue from NHS patients. But Spire said group full-year revenue should be about £925m, up from £885m a year ago, with profits edging up from £160m to £162m. Earnings for the coming year are expected to be similar.

Numis said the update was disappointing with forecasts lower than it had estimated. Shares plunged 10.7pc, or 36.8p, to 308.3p.

Paysafe said it expected turnover to pass $1bn (£820m) in 2016. The digital payments provider said fullyear revenue and earnings were set to be ahead of expectation, with earnings reaching £245m for the first time.

The firm expects low double-digit revenue growth this year and plans to continue to pursue merger and acquisition opportunities.

Paysafe raised its guidance twice last year, adding around 13pc to its revenue expectations. Perhaps because of that, investors had expected more from yesterday’s update. Shares were off 0.5pc, or 1.8p, at 395p.

Cash and carry Booker Group said online sales grew 10pc to £333m in the firm’s third quarter while bricks and mortar Budgens and Londis stores performed well.

The group said its India business also made good progress. Overall sales climbed 2.9pc, despite tobacco sales falling by 1.3pc.

Peel Hunt, which has a ‘buy’ rating on the stock, said it expects the firm to exceed profit forecasts. The broker also thinks the group will continue paying special dividends, which means shares currently yield around 4.7pc. Shares gained 2.2pc, or 4p, to close at 185.5p.

Bango was boosted after full year revenue doubled to £2.6m.

The company is used by online businesses as a payments provider so customers can buy digital services such as apps or music through their mobile phone or tablet. AIM-listed Bango said it had been focused on increasing the spending of customers, which was up 193pc at £132m. It also doubled its payments processing capacity so it can handle more than £1.6bn worth of transactions a year. Shares advanced 6.5pc, or 5p, to 82.5p.

Hays became the first recruitment firm to disappoint as it said conditions in the UK remained tough. Like-for-like fee revenue fell 10pc in the UK but grew 7pc in Asia and 8pc in Europe and the rest of the world.

Full-year operating profit was £211m, after a £30m boost from a weaker pound. But the UK only represents around 26pc of the firm’s revenue. Shares slipped 0.8pc, or 1.3p, to 157.5p.

Robinson rocketed despite revealing profits for 2016 would be below expectations.

The firm, which makes plastic and paperboard packaging, said lower demand and lost business saw revenue fall 5.6pc to £27.5m.

Business which had been planned for the second half of 2016 was also delayed into this year.

But investors were heartened to hear that Robinson had received planning permission for two sites in Chesterfield, which it plans to develop and sell. Shares soared 9.6pc, or 13.5p, to 154p.