Electric vehicle specialist Tanfield - a favourite with private investors - has seen a 13% reversal in its shares despite full-year profits rising fourfold and news of an agreement with Manganese Bronze to produce a zero emission black cab.
The top line profit figure seems to have disappointed the City, with analysts at Investec issuing a sell note on the company. The broker said: "The results are below our expectations with pre-tax profits of £13.7m compared to our £15.4m [figure].
"We are likely to downgrade our earnings forecasts by 3-5% for 2008 and by around 20% in 2009 as we are concerned about the broader macro environment and the company's previous market guidance."
Analysts at Daniel Stewart said: "The shortfall [in profits compared to expectations], according to the company, is due to a couple of one-offs in the 2007 numbers; a freehold improvement of £3.2m was written off in the period whereas the company had expected to be allowed to capitalise it; a development project in Electric Vehicles which had been capitalised in the first half results, had to be written off at a cost of £1.6m."
The broker maintained a hold rating but criticised "poor disclosure". It added: "There is no disclosure of the divisional split of profits between electric vehicles and powered access; there is no disclosure of the contribution from [US platform maker] Snorkel."
Tanfield closed 15.5p lower at 103p.
Overall, leading shares ended down after a 100 point fall on Wall Street. The FTSE 100 lost 18.3 points to 6034.7, with a poor performance from the banks and housebuilders outweighing rises among the miners and oil companies.
