Parity falls 18% as finance chief quits

Shares in Parity fell 18.3 per cent yesterday after the IT consultancy and staffing business announced the departure of its finance director and deputy chief executive Ray King.

Mr King, who joined the business about two years ago, is leaving at the end of next month "to take up an opportunity outside the group".

While the company would not reveal where Mr King was headed, sources said there was nothing sinister in his departure. Despite speculation, the stock closed at 62.5p, its lowest point in just over five years, on a weak day for technology shares in general.

"I don't see it [Mr King's departure] as the reason for the fall in the shares. The stock would have been down anyway," said one analyst.

Ian Miller, who was appointed chief executive of Parity in March, is reorganising the business. His arrival coincided with a wider board shake-up, in which Philip Swinstead, Parity's founder, stepped down from his role as chairman to become a non-executive director.

Shares in Parity, which traded as high as £7 at the peak of the internet bubble, received a jolt just two weeks ago when the company warned that its restructuring would force it to report a small pre-tax loss, before the amortisation of goodwill, in the first six months of this year.

At that time, the company said it continued to see the impact of a weak US market on its activities. However, it said it expected a "much improved" second-half performance because of its cost cutting, and as new revenue streams began to kick in.