Cattles knows a thing or two about hard times. The specialist lender started life just in time for the Great Depression. But Friday’s news – results delayed, a potential profits miss, a review of impairment provisions – felt like time to get out the tin hats.

It now looks like a relative luxury to be analysing Cattles’ £500m refinancing this summer. Friday’s news started to raise concerns over whether the company could end up in breach of its debt covenants (if profits fall too low), and what the banks would do then.