Angry AIT hoists For Sale sign

AIT Group, the software firm, has been forced to put itself up for sale after a stand-off with auditors Andersen over several crucial contracts.

Andersen's refusal to sign off the accounts has caused AIT to delay indefinitely the publication of its results for the year to 31 March and warn that its profit for the period would be a further £4.3m lower than indicated just a fortnight ago. It said then that pre-tax profit would be £1.1m short of market expectations, which stood at £6.6m.

But Andersen has since told AIT that it cannot recognise revenue it is yet to receive from two other key contracts. 'The audit is not yet finalised and it is possible the final audited position may vary from this,' AIT said.

The share price crashed from 492p, valuing the company at £100m, to 105p after the initial warning and lost another 64p today, leaving AIT worth less than £10m.

AIT borrowed £700,000 from its directors to stay solvent and is seeking to defer payment of the £2.4m owed on last year's purchase of software group IMA.