EcoSecurities warned of difficulties in the burgeoning market in carbon credits as its shares plunged 17 per cent on Thursday.

The carbon trading group made a loss of €43.3m (£33.1m) in 2007, compared with a loss of €19.5m in 2006, on revenues of €7.2m, up from €3m. The loss was much worse than expected partly because of the failure of a contract to deliver 900,000 carbon credits to a company in Mauritius, for which EcoSecurities had to pay €9.2m.