In a surprise announcement, Staffline, the UK-based staffing and employability organisation, announced that it has delayed the publication of its full year 2018 results.

The company did not provide details about why the announcement has been postponed nor did it provide a new date, sparking speculation about irregularities in the group’s financial performance. The announcement sent investors panicking as the company saw its share price, at one point today, fall by more than 25% .

Staffline also postponed an analyst presentation due today and an investor presentation on Thursday.

When contacted by SIA, a spokesperson for Staffline provided no further information for the delay but the company did announce that it will provide a further update as soon as possible.

Earlier this month, the group provided a trading update which also had a sharp negative impact on the company’s share price. Staffline said it expected trading for the financial year ended 31 December 2018 would be in line with market expectations with revenue anticipated to be 18% higher than the £957.8 million reported for 2017. However, the market reacted poorly to news of increased debt and the announcement of significant one-off costs incurred by the group’s PeoplePlus division following the scrapping of the Department for Work and Pensions’ Work Programme.

Staffline Group PLC set a new 52-week low during today's trading session when it reached £763.00. Over this period, the share price is down -25.96%. As of last trade, company shares reached £770.00, down 23.0% on the day. Based on its current share price the company has a market value of £279.44 million.