Photo-Me warns of profits blow

Photo-Me International’s turbulent year continued today after it predicted annual results would be “substantially short” of market expectations.

Shares in the photo booth operator dived 30% as a result of the shortfall, which the company blamed on its minilab manufacturing business.

Activist shareholders recently ousted the company’s top two directors while turmoil in credit markets forced it to abandon plans to break up the business.

The company had been looking to sell its vending division, which has 21,000 photo booths and generates three-quarters of the group’s revenues.