Vantis, the UK-listed accountancy and professional services group, said it made a pre-tax profit before amortisation and exceptional items of £1.262 million (around $2 million) in the six months to 31 October 2009, down from £5.4 million in the same period a year before.

Before amortisation and one-off items, Vantis suffered a pre-tax loss of £11.94 million compared with a comparable loss of £850,000 for the same period a year before, the firm said in a statement.

Vantis said the six months ending on 31 October was a “challenging period with group results dominated by exceptional charges primarily addressing impairment issues”.