Another share crash for Carillion as it drops 11pc

IT REALLY was a black Friday – another one – for embattled builder Carillion whose shares slumped a further 10.8pc, or 2p, to record lows of 16.5p.

The builder has now fallen 91pc since its disastrous trading update in July. The HS2 supplier and Battersea Power Station redeveloper has been in a tailspin since July when it made a shock £845m writedown and warned on profits, amid ballooning costs and debt.

Last Friday the key government contractor issued a third profit warning, sending shares tumbling to a then-record low of 21.5p.

But they reached new depths yesterday amid reports of Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable’s concern the Government was feeding it contracts and it was considered ‘too big to fail’.

Project management firm WYG also tanked on a profit warning. Last year it helped discover a ceremonial centre near Stonehenge from 3,650BC.

But yesterday bosses said they would make only a £3.5m to £4m profit, blaming lost or delayed consultancy services contracts. Shares fell 32.8pc, or 22p, to 45p.

British Gas owner Centrica recovered slightly from its 15pc crash on Thursday when it admitted it had lost 823,000 residential customers and also warned on profits. Shares added 0.7pc, or 1p, to 139p.

That was despite a pessimistic note from Deutsche Bank analysts, who warned of the looming price cap on bills and of technology benefiting competitors.

They predicted the firm’s prize dividend could be cut in 2019 and that it might become a takeover target. They recommend selling the stock, with a price target of 125p.

Meanwhile Black Friday had a more hopeful meaning for retailers. Shoppers are expected to splurge £8bn over the weekend as Christmas shopping gets under way.

But sales yesterday failed to cheer the sector greatly, amid fears businesses will slash prices by so much that they end up making a loss.

Next, taking part in Black Friday for the first time, was down 1.8pc, or 79p, to 4306p. Women’s fashion chain Boohoo climbed 0.8pc, or 1.5p, to 186p. Competitor Asos climbed 0.2pc, or 11p, to 5868p. Debenhams fell 1.3pc, or 0.5p, to 37p. Halfords fell 0.3pc, or 0.9p, to 332.7p.

Their performance was reflected in the FTSE 350 General Retailers sector, which was down 0.6pc, or 14.89 points, to 2468.46, continuing its 5.3pc annual slide.

Even a chirpy note from Berenberg analysts failed to lift Burberry. Defending boss Marco Gobbetti, they said it could be one of the sector’s ‘most exciting turnaround stories’. And they speculated outgoing creative director Christopher Bailey’s shoes could be filled by top candidates including Phoebe Philo from Celine, Hedi Slimane from Yves SaintLaurent, and Riccardo Tisci from Givenchy. But Burberry closed down 0.5pc, or 8p, to 1740p.

The FTSE 100 closed down 0.1pc, or 7.60 points, at 7409.65.

Paddy Power Betfair was a big winner, climbing 3.2pc, or 275p, to 8810p, amid talk of its deal with Crown Bet. Events and publishing firm

Informa rose 1.1pc, or 8.5p, to 760p, thanks to Liberum analysts hailing its ‘impressive’ performance.

Bankers also had reasons to be cheerful, climbing after the Financial Conduct Authority said 20 of them had agreed to back the inter-bank lending rate Libor until it is phased out in 2021.

That calmed nerves over the future of the benchmark amid a slump in interbank lending. RBS was up 0.4pc, or 1.2p, to 270.8p,

HSBC Holdings climbed 0.5pc, or 3.9p, to 735.7p. Barclays climbed 0.32pc, or 0.6p, to 189.35p.