Software producer Maxima Holdings (MXM) saw its shares plummet on Thursday after it announced a strategic review which it said could result in the sale of the company.

The AIM-listed firm said while pipeline opportunities remained “encouraging”, it had experienced a combination of disappointing delays and cancellations of sales and expected a drop in second-half revenue as a result.

Shares in the firm were over 38% lower at 50.50p in morning trading.

It said these opportunities had been expected to benefit second-half performance, but without them full-year profit was forecast at £45 million, compared to £51 million in the previous year.

Maxima said extended delivery timescales had also been put in place for existing customer orders due to supplier or development delays.

The firm is now in an offer period, as it thinks further investment is required to achieve full potential. But it said it would also look at the possibility of raising more finance to support its growth plans.

It thinks considerable business value can be released through its expertise in key technology components of cloud-based service delivery.