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AUSENCO (ASX:AAX) shares have plummeted on a first half profit warning delivered by the mining services company today, which details the extraordinary $5 million cost of its redundancy program.
AAX shares were down 30.7 per cent today at $1.490 per unit, a huge drop from the $4.08 high achieved earlier this year.
The cost of the restructure will weight on the second quarter result, but it is expected to save $13 million in overhead costs in the second half of 2013 and between $20 million and $25 million annually from 2014.
The company says contract specific issues and a softer market will hurt the bottom line in the first half.
Unaudited first half 2013 performance is expected to deliver revenues of $255 million, underlying EBITDA between $15 and $16 million and underlying net profit after tax between $6 and $7 million.
Ausenco expects full year revenue to be between $564 million and $661 million and net profit after tax between $29 million and $41 million.
“Based on the lower first half performance and current lower business activity levels expected for the remainder of this year, the 2013 full year results will be below the current market consensus,” says the company.
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