Hedge funds shorting Provident Financial, the FTSE 100 sub-prime lender that saw shares drop more than 70% today, have made a paper gain of around £150m on their holdings.

Shares in Provident dropped after it issued its second profit warning of 2017 and its chief executive, Peter Crook, resigned. The Bradford-based company, which reorganised its doorstep lending business earlier this year, said that losses at the division, before exceptional items, were likely to be between £80m and £120m this year.