Christie Group takes a hit after profits fall

4th Apr 2012 09:21

Shares in business services firm Christie Group fell on Wednesday after the firm said profits were down and it was cutting its dividend.The company, which focuses on the retail, leisure and care sectors, posted a pre-tax profit of £0.6m for 2011, down from £0.9m the year before.However, a one-off cost of opening an office in Dubai all but wiped that figure out.Revenue increased by 9.0% to £53.3m but Christie slashed its dividend in half, proposing a shareholder pay out of 0.5p per share for the year."Financial turmoil in the Eurozone and political instability in the Middle East ultimately curtailed our profitability in the second half of the year, albeit a healthy increase in top line revenue was achieved across the year," said Chairman Philip Gwyn.The company's shares fell over 6% in early trading on Wednesday following the news.