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Outlook tough for Speedy Hire
TOOL hire company Speedy Hire reported a 29.5 per cent fall in profit yesterday, reflecting the downturn in construction, and said trading continued to be tough, sending its shares down as much by 6.5 per cent to 176p.
Adjusted pre-tax profit fell to £33.9m for the year ended 31 March, from £48.1m in the same period a year before. The company said it would pay a final dividend of 6.4p per share, bringing down the total dividend for the year to 12.8p per share from 19.8p per share last year. Chairman David Wallis yesterday said he was cautious over the short term outlook.