Hill & Smith shares go into reverse on road building delays

MOTORWAY barrier maker

Hill & Smith shed a quarter of its value in just one day as the Brexit deadlock and delays to road revamp plans put its shares into reverse gear.

The FTSE 250 company suffered a 14pc decline in pre-tax profit at the interim stage with the delays to the new “smart” motorway projects and the cold snap in the first quarter holding back trading.

Hill & Smith predicted a stronger second half of the year ahead but admitted that it will not claw back the shortfall made in its first half amid a “cautious investment environment in the UK”. Promises of improved trading in the second half of the year fell on deaf ears in the City as shares slumped 368p to £11.02, wiping almost £300m off its value.

The pound was also suffering from a bout of Brexit blues on currency markets as it slipped below $1.29 against the dollar for the first time in almost a year. The rout in sterling helped the FTSE 100 buck the trend of sinking stocks as big dollar earners boosted the index 58.17 points to 7,776.65. Elsewhere, Spire

Healthcare’s share price slump extended into a third day after Berenberg warned clients that “management is currently unable to forecast its own business”. NHS belt-tightening forced the private hospital operator to issue a profit warning on Monday as it told investors that it was seeing “new signs” of further NHS “rationing”.

Berenberg analyst Charles Weston argued that there was also potential for “intangible asset writedowns and a dividend cut”. The threat of another swoop from Mediclinic supports the share price but investors should not rely on this “get-out-of-jail-free card” given the negative reaction to its bid last year, he added. Berenberg’s double downgrade to “sell” sent Spire sliding a 17.1p to 172.7p to an all-time low. Consumer goods giant

Reckitt Benckiser edged down 13p to £69.02 after JAB Holding, the investment vehicle of the billionaire descendants of Johann A. Benckiser, continued to sell down its stake. Amid concerns over stagnant sales at Reckitt, JAB has slashed its slice of the Dettol maker in recent years, dropping from its top investor to fifth in the shareholder register with just a 3pc holding.

UDG Healthcare plunged 85p to 734.5p after disposing of its Aquilant business, while artificial knee maker

Smith & Nephew slipped back 3p to £13.60 on a UBS downgrade to “neutral”.

Quilter, which broke away from insurance blue-chip Old Mutual in June, climbed 1p to 150.6p after pre-tax profit jumped 16pc in its maiden results. Finally, hair care firm

Innovaderma surged 24p to 135p after bagging a deal to put its Roots range in Tesco stores.