Black day for Taylor Wimpey

Taylor Wimpey's shares have lost almost half their value in a day on the back of news that it has failed to secure the extra funding it needs and is set to cut 900 jobs.

Shares in the housebuilder hit a low of 25 pence at one point yesterday (Wednesday 2 July) but recovered slightly to close at 34 pence. Shares in the firm were worth around 400 pence a year ago.

Taylor Wimpey chief executive Peter Redfern blamed the turmoil in the property market for scaring away potential financial backers. "We had good support from existing investors, but we couldn't get the amount of money we wanted from new investors."

Meanwhile Barratt also suffered on the markets, seeing its share price fall by around 37% at one point.

Analysts warned that the falls indicated a "vicious circle of doom and gloom in the sector".

Taylor Wimpey announced on Wednesday morning that it has so far failed in a bid to raise £500m of extra financing through an emergency share issue.

It has also confirmed it will close a third of its 39 offices, meaning the loss of 900 jobs.

On Monday it claimed that it was planning to raise funds to bolster its finances. But "current market conditions" meant it had not yet been able to find a "satisfactory" deal.