Tim Simon, chairman and managing director of international financial software house CCF Group Plc blamed last October’s crash for the fall in the company’s mid-term profit – down 76% at UKP339,000; he told shareholders yesterday that all activities have been affected by the continued uncertainty, particularly in the UK and Europe where there are frequent announcements of institutions withdrawing from particular trading sectors: though the New York office won two sizeable contracts US operations showed a pre-tax loss of UKP36,000 this time against a profit of UKP399,000 last.