Totally PLC on Tuesday said it swung to a loss in the first half as revenue dropped amid ‘crisis’ in the UK National Health Service.

Totally shares tumbled 20% to 7.00 pence each on Tuesday morning in London.

The Derby, England-based healthcare services provider in UK and Ireland reported that it swung to a pretax loss of £1.9 million in the first half ended September 30, from a profit of £1.0 million the year prior.

Revenue fell 21% to £55.8 million during the period, from £70.3 million a year ago, Totally said.

The firm blamed the ‘crisis’ faced by the UK NHS for the lower revenue, given the loss of its North West London contracts.

Chair Bob Holt said: ‘As the contracts came to the end of their contracted period, and despite previous assertions that we would retain the contracts, the ICB allowed the contracts to end. We were unable to terminate all costs immediately at that point but have since undertaken a significant cost review to remove costs related to those contracts as well as other costs which are not critical to the day to day running of the business.’

Totally did not declare an interim dividend, down from its dividend of 0.125 pence per share last year.

Looking forward, the company said it is confident that it will be able to return to its previous profit levels in the future. However, it noted that it is ‘prudent’ to withdraw its market forecasts until the return of normal market conditions. The firm added that it is viewing the current financial year as a ‘period of restructuring’.

Separately, Totally said it has appointed Simon Stilwell as chair designate and non-executive director. Stilwell will take over as the company’s chair on January 1.

Currently, Stilwell is a non-executive director at Gresham House PLC, and was previously the chief executive of Bonhill Group PLC and Liberum Capital Ltd.

Chief Executive Wendy Lawrence said: ‘Simon brings a huge amount of experience that will benefit the group and its future, and I am very pleased to welcome him to the board.’

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