Support services’ chief executives cannot open their mouths without investors fretting whether they are the next Carillion, defunct after being liquidated, or Interserve, fighting on after a pre-pack administration.
Mitie yesterday briefed the City on its situation prior to the end of its financial year. The figures appeared sound enough. However, the shares took a bit of a smashing, closing down 7.2 per cent, or 10¾p, at 139¼p.
Irrespective of Mitie’s financials, two things, inextricably intertwined, are at play. The shares have run up at a lick these past three months. That means that, prior to yesterday, any investor brave or lucky enough to have got in at the low of 105¾p at the turn of the year would have been sitting on a 42