Shares in Mitie fell by 28 per cent on Monday after the British business and public services outsourcing group warned on profits this year, saying some large new contracts had not come through. It said this was because the vote to leave the EU had surprised some customer firms, causing them to put off new investment decisions.

The pest control to property cleaning, security and ancillary healthcare services provider said it had seen a slowdown in new work in the run-up to and after the Brexit vote, as clients deferred new outsourcing decisions and instead renewed or extended large contracts with their existing service providers.

Some big customers such as Lloyds Banking, Vodafone and Sky had extended contracts with Mitie by several years, the company said, adding that it was confident of a better second half as new orders pick up.

Nevertheless the company said it also faced a number of other “significant economic pressures” including lower growth rates, public sector budget constraints and a new minimum wage law that took effect from the beginning of the year.

– Reuters