Christie Group no longer expects to turn a profit in 2020

Christie said it began the year "trading normally" but warned that profitability no longer looked like a reality in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Despite the unfortunate situation, Christie believes its own resources and expected government-backed support were sufficient to meet its cash requirements.

The AIM-listed group also said the majority of its UK staff had been placed upon grant-aided furlough and stated that other government-backed arrangements applied internationally.

Christie said its cloud-based visitor attractions system remained fully operational, but noted that online traffic had slowed, while the firm's professional and financial services division continued to provide a restricted volume of transactional and advisory services, where possible, through its online presence.

The group's stock and inventory systems and services division's physical activities were now held in abeyance and pharmacy counts continued as per normal given it was supporting an essential sector.

As of 0925 BST, Christie shares were down 13.77% at 72p.