SHAREHOLDERS in troubled Lancashire tour operator MyTravel will have needed more than a complimentary drink to settle their nerves over the past few months.

As the company lurched from one crisis to another, the value of their investment has shrunk by almost 90 per cent from its price in January when it stood at £2.48 per share.

The company revealed the scale of its financial problems when it announced a pre-tax loss of almost £73million.

But as chairman David Crossland drew a line under what he described as the worst year in the company's history, he assured investors that it now had the finances in place to stay in business next year.

The company has won an extension to a £250million bank credit facility, due to expire in March, after a series of frantic talks.

The deal means the former Airtours business could finally publish results bearing the scars of a disastrous year.

Burnley-born David Crossland said: "MyTravel has gone through the worst year in its history. The group's performance has been unacceptable."

The corporate wringing of hands did little to improve MyTravel's standing in the City. The company's share price of 30p - up 88 per cent from its darkest days - barely moved after the announcement.

Rumours abound that MyTravel is now either the subject of a takeover or will be broken up piecemeal. Even if it remains intact, it will not be easy for the company to rebuild its reputation.

Clitheroe-based Ultraframe knows only too well the perils of upsetting the city. Two profits warnings last year pushed the share price down to the £2 mark and it has struggled to recover ever since.

It announced a 10 per cent increase in pre-tax profits to £27 million on an increased turnover of £147 million. Far from rising, the share price fell 5p to 241p per share.

In general, November was a good month for the East Lancashire Index of quoted companies which enjoyed a 6.2 per cent rise compared to the fall suffered by the FTSE Index.

AIM newcomer Glisten, the Blackburn-based chocolate company, added 5p to 97p to continue its surge.

Blackburn-based Scapa Group plc, the global supplier of technical tapes, is back on the road to recovery after a rocky spell almost wiped out profits.

Its interim results for the six months up to September 30 showed a profit before tax of £3.3 million.

While that figure was only half that achieved in the same period last year, the company described it as a "welcome recovery" from the £1.4 million profit from the preceding six months. Its share price, however, slipped back to a new all-time low of 25p.

It is no surprise that Scapa is another company to fall foul of the 'profits warning curse' that is now afflicting MyTravel and Ultraframe.