Well, at least there wasn’t any more bad news. Shares in Galliford Try were up by 94p at £12.61 after something of a relief rally, though they are well below their level in March.
The shares have tended to lag the other housebuilders because of the company’s hybrid nature, comprising Linden Homes, a large construction division that has suffered with the rest of the industry because of low margins, and a partnerships and regeneration side building for local authorities and the like.
Then in May came the shock of a £98 million clutch of one-off charges on two projects in Scotland, one the Forth Road Bridge replacement, taken on in earlier years when the company was prepared to enter fixed-price contracts. This is no longer