Collapses in construction
Jun 26 2008 by Graeme King, The Journal
TOLENT is one of a collection of listed North East construction and housebuilding companies to suffer from the effects of the credit crunch.
Work has been drying up as the big lenders get ever more cautious, and demand for new homes has fallen with mortgages harder to come by.
A year ago, Barratt was trading at more than £10 per share. When the market closed last night, the company’s shares were changing hands for just 71.25p. Their performance has not been helped by speculation about Barratt’s ability to cope with the expensive purchase of Wilson Bowden.
Bellway, meanwhile, was up above £13 a year ago, but has since fallen back to 471p yesterday.
And construction company Metnor Group has also suffered in the last 12 months, falling from over 400p to 160p last night, and has been as low as 110p.
