Speedy Hire looks set for £2.5m dose of the summertime blues

The estimate from Investec Securities came after Speedy warned that demand in the London area will be hit by two months of restrictions and interruptions to construction projects due to the Olympics and Paralympics.

The Jubilee celebrations will also result in fewer trading days in June – a traditionally holiday-free period – but Speedy stressed that one-off factors aside it still expects to make progress this year.

Investec analyst Andrew Gibb added that the business remained in good shape but reviewed his 2012/13 forecast in the wake of Speedy’s summer guidance. He said: “Speedy Hire will clearly be on the front-foot to minimise the impact, but we believe it is prudent to take £2.5m off our full-year profit forecast in anticipation of these headwinds.”

Panmure Gordon stockbrokers also cut its profits forecast for the year to next March from £19.8m to £16m and warned the Olympics disruption alone could result in £1m of lost profits.

Analyst Paul Jones said: “With roads closed and projects suspended in the run-up to, over, and in the wind-down from the Olympics, we believe Speedy could lose as much as two months in affected areas.”

The business operates from 300 sites and supplies the construction, infrastructure and facilities management sectors, as well as tradespeople. It has contracts with Welsh Water and Thames Water, while in the industrial sector it has been involved in a number of petrochemical shutdown programmes, including those for Exxon, Murco and Ineos.

The Merseyside-based firm said: “The board remains confident of making further progress in the year ahead although we remain cautious about market conditions during the early part of the 2012/13 financial year.”