LoopUp shares tumble as it warns on profits

Remote meetings company LoopUp warned on Wednesday that profits looked set to have fallen in its current trading year as macroeconomic headwinds offset some "strong" demand.

LoopUp now expects to report 7% and 20% declines in revenues and underlying earnings, respectively, both below market expectations. The company said subdued revenues across its long-term customer base and more senior quota-carrying pod staff than expected being diverted into management and training activities meant the group was forced to accommodate a dramatic increase in its number of pod staff.

Looking forward, LoopUp anticipates that 2019 revenues will be weighted approximately 48% in the first half of 2019 and 52% in the second.

Co-chief executives Steve Flavell and Michael Hughes said: "We are experiencing some broad macro-economic headwinds in our business and have needed to take on board some learnings and growing pains resulting from what is essentially a very positive expansion of team size in our new business pods.

"However, we believe the LoopUp product remains strong and differentiated in a very large addressable market, we continue to see excellent demand for that product, and we remain confident in our ability to deliver strong future growth."

At 0940 BST, LoopUp shares were down 46.81% at 125p.