Credit hire group Helphire warned yesterday its first quarter profits would be lower than expected.The group, which works with car dealers and bodyshops to supply courtesy cars to non-fault car crash victims, also appointed finance director Mark Adams as its new chief executive.

Mark Jackson, company founder and previous CEO, retired yesterday.

In an AGM stockmarket the group said profitability to date has been lower than expected because a large amount of the group's costs are either fixed in the short term or driven by the number of hire cases rather than the number of hire days.

Helphire is continuing to clamp down on its insurance clients by charging interest on all claims not settled within 90 days, and will look to take legal action against companies if claims are not settled within 120 days of submission.