The price of a potential takeover of Whitehead Mann, the executive search firm, was thrown into doubt today as the group plunged almost £9m (€12.8m) into the red and halved the dividend.

Colin Southgate, chairman of Whitehead Mann which is advised by Close Brothers Corporate Finance, said that as a result of losing several US staff the firm has significantly reduced its US operations and written off associated goodwill in the US market.