Nature denied £2.5m insurance claim

Maritime waste treatment firm Nature Group saw shares fall after saying profits would suffer due to its insurance company refusing to pay out on a claim.

The firm had claimed £2.45m for damage to property and loss of business following an explosion last May at its waste treatment facility in Gibraltar.

The company is appealing the decision but said if it was unsuccessful the group's results would be hit and this would result in an expected profit before tax of approximately £1.5m for the year ended 31 December 2011.

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But Nature added that its current cash reserves were sufficient to deal with the repairs, planned investments and the continuation of the group dividend policy.

"Whilst this news is disappointing we would like to stress that this is an exceptional situation," the firm said.

Investors didn't take kindly to the news, pushing the shares down almost 14% in early trading following the announcement,