Group Five shares lost more than a third of their market value over the first quarter of 2018, reinforcing a broadly negative view towards the construction sector that was once the darling of the market.The picture looks even uglier when Aveng is considered; both companies’ market capitalisations have halved over the same period.Off a low base, Murray & Roberts (M&R) fared reasonably better after German investment group Aton swooped on the South African company in a R4.7bn deal, which the latter argued did not represent its true value.WBHO and Afrimat have been notable outliers in terms of their respective operational and share-price performances over the past few years.The construction sector has been in the doldrums‚ with big projects drying up after the 2010 Fifa World Cup‚ thanks to a slowdown in broader economic activity. Unum Capital analyst Lester Davids says, "Competitors now fight for projects, which yield razor-thin profit margins while concerns over pressure on government...
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