FDM Group (LSE:FDM) PLC saw its shares fall almost 17% to 388p in afternoon trade after the IT professional services provider said delays and deferred project decisions by clients had led to a decline in consultant placements.
In a trading update, FDM said consultants assigned to clients dropped to 4,136 at the end of October this year from 4,602 at the June half-year stage and from 5,014 a year ago.
The company said it has taken action to adjust recruitment, training and staffing levels, and as such expects its results for 2023 to broadly meet its expectations.
However, its performance for 2024 will be impacted by lower-than-expected consultant placements, it cautioned.
On a more positive note, FDM said it is seeing signs that “confidence is slowly beginning to return, albeit varying by geography”.
The group pointed out that it has a “robust” balance sheet, with £35.3 million cash at 31 October 2023 and no debt.