John Menzies PLC shares were down Tuesday morning as it reported a sharp drop in pretax profit as its aviation unit was hit by the previously-flagged issues at Heathrow airports as well as the start-up costs related to new contract wins.
It also said its issues at Heathrow have now largely been resolved, but warned that they would still impact its results in the first half of 2015, while it cut its dividend saying it wants to keep more cash for potential investments.
The company, which has an aviation services business that its trying to grow while maintaining profitability in its newsprint and magazines distribution business, had warned back in November that full-year results in its aviation division would be "materially" below its expectations because significant changes at Heathrow Airport had "substantially" reduced margins in that operation.
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