IT firm faces charges after Lehman collapse

IT services firm Morse has revealed that it will post higher than expected losses following the Lehman Brothers collapse.

The company's UK infrastructure service and technology (IS&T UK) department record a £500,000 charge in the three months ending in September after the failure of the investment bank.

This is expected to cut the department's operating profit, with performance across all its divisions expected to be "flat".

Overall revenue for the third quarter was £55.8 million, compared to £55.2 million in the same period of last year.

Morse announced its annual results last month, which revealed total revenue of £253.3 million for the year ending June 30th, 2008.

Chief executive Kevin Loosemore described the performance as "disappointing" and announced changes to the company's operating model.

"We continue to believe that once operational issues are fixed, strong execution of our current combination of business should be able to produce our target of 7.2 per cent operating margin in the medium term," he said.