TECH giant Micro Focus will not pay a final year dividend in response to coronavirus, the firm said yesterday.

The firm will likely face investor revolt at its annual general meeting next week after it said yesterday it had scrapped its shareholder payouts to prepare for the impact of the virus outbreak.

"While there has been no material impact on Micro Focus' business to date, the ultimate impact on the global economy is unknown," it said.

The company has endured turmoil recently after its chairman stepped down in February due to a challenging financial year.

Its annual results posted in February saw dramatic falls in operating profit and revenue with net debt climbing. Operating profit sank 41.2 per cent year on year to $221.7m (£170.9m) for the 12 months to the end of October.

Revenue also tumbled 29.6 per cent to $3.35bn.

Shares sank 22.6 per cent to 311.65p on the news yesterday.

(c) 2020 City A.M., source Newspaper