Profit at builders merchant Travis Perkins will fall by as much as £65m this year as construction continues to slow.
The expectation had been that the firm would turn a profit of about £240m this year, but it warned yesterday that its outturn for the year would now be between £175m and £195m.
It said that, in response to rising mortgage rates curtailing demand for new-build houses, developers are not building as many homes as they were.
It also suggested that the commercial property and infrastructure markets, which have so far proved more resilient, are starting to weaken as well.
