A major share price casualty is AEA Technology, which has lost 77% of its value after a profit warning and the departure of its chief executive.
AEA - an energy and environmental consultancy spun out of the Atomic Energy Authority - said profits for the year would be below expectations after a disappointing second half. Its Washington based business PPC has suffered from late payment on some orders as well as a failure to win some expected contracts.
And the bad news continues, with the company in talks with Lloyds Banking Group about its facilities and associated covenants.
Perhaps then it is no surprise that chief executive Andrew McCree is stepping down with immediate effect.
The list of calamities has sent AEA's shares 1.53p lower to just 0.45p. Andrew Shepherd-Barron at Peel Hunt said:
An earnings miss at one of AEA's two US consultancies and the unexpected departure of chief executive Andrew McCree bring significant uncertainty. Order intake into the rest of the business is as expected, which is encouraging, but assessing the correct value of the equity has been made that much more problematic.
