Beleaguered construction group Basil Read came under renewed pressure on Wednesday, as negative sentiment sent its share price tumbling more than 8% in intraday trade. Early on Wednesday, Basil Read’s share price had fallen 8.33% to a record low of 22c. It has a market capitalisation of R328m and has lost 63% of its market value in 2018. In March, Basil Read reported its biggest annual loss of R1bn for the year to end-December. Auditors PwC said at the time that material uncertainty existed about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The JSE’s construction index has gained 3.37% in 2018, amid a slow recovery since 2015, when it plunged 43%. This has been mainly thanks to Murray & Roberts, up 15.7% so far in 2018. It has a market capitalisation of R6.2bn. It rejected a buyout offer from German investment group Aton last week. Group Five, with a market capitalisation of R844m, is down 41.7% in 2018, while Aveng, with a market capitalisation of R508m, is down 39%.
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