Charteris hit as clients hold back

12th Jan 2011 13:25

Shares in IT consultancy Charteris took a dive after it said clients were more cautious than expected in the second quarter, resulting in delayed sales."This and the inclement weather in December are leading to lower than expected business volumes in the second quarter," it said. "This will result in the business incurring a small loss in the first half of FY11."Charteris said it is continuing to see growth in local and regional government as it helps councils to cope with budget constraints. It added that its business in the retail and service sectors is seeing growth.Charteris said it has a plan improve trading in the second half that includes actions to drive sales and cut costs.Charteris's share price fall is in contrast to IDOX, which also provides software services to local government and yesterday saw its share price rise after reporting higher profits for the year to 31 October.