Wilmington's caution hits shares

Publishing and training company Wilmington has been going great guns for a couple of months, but slipped up today after warning of a potentially more challenging second half.The company says trading was in line with expectations in the first quarter to 30 September and since, with both revenue and profits up on last year.But the outlook statement is cautious. Though many of its businesses are producing "robust" performances, trading conditions remain "tough"."We continue to concentrate on focused management and cost control," it said. "At the same time we remain excited about the opportunities which exist in our markets and continue to invest in international expansion and in new product development."Numbers for the six months ending 31 December are expected to be "marginally improved" versus the same time last year, "however the second half may prove to be more challenging as the impact of the Government spending cuts becomes clearer"."Our bottom of the range numbers will not change materially today, but the consensus for FY2012 will fall," broker KBC Peel Hunt said. "Our target price of 155p feels right. Hold." Wilmington