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Dan shares plunge after chair's warning
Page 8
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• Shares in the Dart Group— which owns chilled food specialist Fowler Welch-Coolchainfell 37.5p in one day last week, from 217.5p down to 180p.
The drop followed a warning in the group's results that business in the next year wit be challenging.
Chairman Philip Meeson says "pricing pressures" are making the contract distribution business challenging. He adds: "While trading is in line with budget, the outlook for the year remains uncertain."
Despite the fall in share price, Dart's turnover and profits both met expectations in the year to 31 March. Profits were unchanged at £10m on turnover up from 2194.2m to 2198.2m. The company has its annual general meeting on 7 August.
Dart's share price has seen some sharp changes in the last year. A year ago it was valued at more than 290p but it fell to a low of under 140p in April, then climbed back to more than 220p before its latest fall. On Monday this week it was trading at 176p.
At the beginning of this year Dart laid off around 200 workers as a result of depot closures when it merged Fowler Welch and Coolchain (CM 16-22 January).
Bournemouth-based Dart was founded 30 years ago by chief executive Philip Meeson. It operates freight and passenger aircraft as well as its road freight business.