Shares in debt-ridden construction group Costain were suspended on Wednesday afternoon after its share price almost halved, wiping £16m off the group’s value.
The group, which recently won the £74m contract to build the Newbury by-pass, requested the freeze at 39p. The slide was triggered by Costain’s delay in releasing its 1995 results.
The group is expected to report £40m losses. It hopes to sell off two of its US coal mines before announcing its results.
A Costain spokesman said: “Our share price dropped so dramatically that we asked for our shares to be frozen. This fall was triggered by one or two stories in the press overstating our financial position.”
The spokesman added: “We expected the mines in America to have been sold by now. Because that sale was delayed, we decided to delay our results.”
EGi News 28/06/96
