Lamprell plunges as management purge begins

Oil and gas engineering firm Lamprell lost almost 40 per cent of its share value after it said delays and extra costs would make 2012 losses significantly larger than expected.

The firm is now set to make wholesale changes at the top, saying "changes to the leadership and senior management team are required to ensure Lamprell begins to rebuild its reputation with both investors and customers".

Further announcements on whole faces the chop will come "in the near term", the company said.

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Lamprell said the problem lay with additional costs on its already delayed Windcarrier 1 and Windcarrier 2 construction projects.

It also warned that problems at a separate construction project would result in revenue and profit from that work slipping from 2012 to 2013.

"The company now anticipates that the loss for the year will be significantly greater than previously expected," it said in the trading update.

Chairman John Kennedy said the fundamentals of the business remained sound and the order book and new contract pipeline were strong.

The firm's order book currently stands at approximately $1.5bn.

Shares in Lamprell were down 38% to 68p at 0815 on Wednesday morning.