That sinking feeling.
The Easter weekend didn't help the cause of accountancy related stocks, with a number of companies taking a battering towards the end of the week.
The Accountancy Age/ADVFN index continued merrily on its way south, touching 76.25 by the end of the week. The FTSE 100 closed at 96.43, down but by no means out.
ITNet, Logica and Xansa led the charge south of the border – Logica dropped 47.5 points, and Xansa fell 16 points a week before publishing its interim results. Capita was the notable exception, which benefited from a ‘buy’ note from analysts at Merrill Lynch who are anticipating an upbeat statement at the business services company at its agm next week.
This reflected the beginning of Capita’s contract with the Criminal Records Bureau last month, which the broker believed could add around £20m to sales, and a further contract with the BBC due to start in July which could bring in about £50m a year.