One of the day's big fallers is recruitment group SThree, down nearly 10% after signs of a slowdown in business.
The company said full year profits would be in line with market forecasts, up 17% for the full year. But growth in the fourth quarter had declined to around 10%, which has helped send its shares 24.2p lower to 219.8p. Chief executive Russell Clements said:
The well documented decline in global economic sentiment has in recent months weakened demand for the group's services in a number of markets. However....we are well placed to maximise the potential of whatever market conditions prevail in 2012.
Analyst Robert Morton at Investec kept his buy recommendation but cut his target price from 375p to 305p after the "marked slowdown in the final quarter." He said:
The group has delivered a satisfactory out-turn for the year, despite the poor economic backdrop of recent months. The new financial year will clearly face considerable headwinds, particularly in the first half, but profitability will recover strongly when the economic background picks up again. The shares will remain volatile in the short term whilst the financial uncertainty persists, but we remain buyers for the medium term recovery, looking for opportunities to build holdings in a strongly-managed business.
