Housebuilder troubles take toll on Footsie

Market report Emma Newlands

A drop in profits at Crest Nicholson sparked a sell-off in housebuilding stocks, pushing the FTSE 100 into the red.

London’s blue-chip index ended the day down 33.62 points at 7,703.81.

Property-developers and home-builders were among the worst performers, with Barratt Developments falling 18p to 561p, Berkeley Group Holdings down 119p to 4,186p, and Persimmon dropping 70p to 2,790p.

It was sparked by disappointing results from Crest Nicholson, which reported a 2 per cent fall in half-year pre-tax profits to £74.8 million.

The FTSE 250-listed housebuilder said margins would also remain under pressure next year, and ended the day down 18.2p at 428p.

Sector peer Bellway tumbled 122p to 3,287p after highlighting signs of a faltering British property market, having confirmed cooling price growth.

In currency markets, the pound received a late-afternoon boost as parliament continued to vote on amendments to the EU Withdrawal Bill. Sterling was up 0.3 per cent against the US dollar at $1.341 and by the same percentage versus the euro to €1.138.

In UK stocks, British American Tobacco fell 66.5p at 3,680p as the Lucky Strike and Dunhill maker warned that foreign exchange rates could hit operating profits for the first half and full year, although it insisted it would still deliver solid full-year earnings growth.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 included Centrica up 5.4p at 150p and Evraz up 14.8p at 551.8p. The biggest fallers included Anglo American down 60.6p at 1,812.6p. The maker of medical and other research tools swung to an annual profit, and said its chosen end markets remain “attractive”. The pizza firm was the worst performer on the FTSE 250 after announcing the departure of its chief financial officer Rachel Osborne.