Retail Decisions sounds alarm

COMPANIES fighting for revival rather than battling fraud have prompted card fraud prevention group Retail Decisions to issue a profits warning. It said its main market in the US has been particularly hard hit, with a major telecoms customer - believed to be AT&T - reducing the price it paid for Retail Decisions' services and cutting the number of transactions.

Chief executive Carl Clump said earnings for the current year would be 'significantly below expectations'. He added that because of economic conditions companies were 'sitting on their hands and deferring capital expenditure and project work'. The shares fell 3p to a low of 5 1/4p.

The economic climate is also affecting the signing of contracts for the company's innovative and high-margin prism-based technology that will make fraud even more difficult for criminals. Clump said several new contracts for its conventional technology were in the pipeline but signing them may be postponed.