Hammersons shares tumbled from 551.5p to 508.5p after posting interim pretax profits down from £39.2m to £37.3m, at the lower end of market expectations.
The office and retail property group said rising vacancies and falling rents had hit the central London office market.
Ron Spinney, chairman, said rental values had fallen 10% from levels recorded at the end of 2001 but investment demand for real estate remained strong.
Some analysts reduced their forecasts for the coming year as a result of the performance both for the company and the sector.
The results wiped more than 5% off the stock market value of other groups including British Land, Land Securities, Canary Wharf and Minerva.
Financial Times 29/08/02 page 23, page 44 (Companies Report)
The Times 29/08/02 page 26 (Need to know & Results in brief), page 27, page 28 (Tempus)
The Daily Telegraph 29/08/02 page 34, page 37 (Questor & The Market)
The Independent 29/08/02 page 22 (Market Movers), page 23 (The Investment Column)
The Guardian 29/08/02 page 22 (Market forces)
