Justin Jewittt is to stand down as chief executive of Nestor, the UK’s largest listed health recruitment agency, after the company announced profits would be at least £4m lower than expected.

A trading statement blamed the impact of NHS Professionals, the health service’s in-house recruitment agency, for a £2m fall in expected profits.

Nestor has put off an acquisition programme in home care activities with the exception of a small number of transactions, which have already been agreed. This is expected to reduce income by a further £2m.

The company’s board has instigated a full review of the group’s business activities and will attempt to cut management and operational costs because of the shortfall.

Nestor’s services division has also been hit by the transfer of out of hours services from GPs to Primary Care Trusts (PCTs).

This trend will lead to a significant reduction in the number of GPs the company services, the statement said.