2008 share price league table: Mears comes out top

12:30 13 Jan 2009
By John Leitch

How times change. A healthy group of 19 major contractors enjoyed a rise in their share prices in 2007, but last year was a lot more gloomy with only one name still marching forward: Mears - in the past 12 months its share price rose 13%.

Rather than sustain forward momentum in 2008, the big names were scrambling to minimise the damage to their share values.

Among those relatively less badly hit were Keller (-15%), Carillion (-29%) and Balfour Beatty (-33%).

At the next level down there were a couple of familiar faces: Jarvis (-45%) and Morgan Sindall (-48%).

Going down again reveals that 25 firms suffered a share price tumble of more than 50%, including May Gurney (-53%) and Interserve (-54%).

The most worrying zone, where share prices fell 80%, contains stalwarts of construction such as MJ Gleeson (-81%) and Rok (-84%), with Styles & Wood (-94%) at the very bottom of the list.

So what helped Mears climb when everyone else nosedived?

Bob Holt, chief executive, says that as well as Mears' share price starting from a low base, the rise in share value reflects the strength of the social housing sector: "We had a great year in 2008 and we see growth continuing into 2009."

Plant hire: Speedy sinks to the bottom

Bad news all round for the plant boys in 2008 - even Aggreko, the most resilient, suffered a 16% fall.

Speedy Hire's share price collapsed: in 2008, a further 83% was slashed from its already battered trading price.

House builders almost demolished

Every single house building player suffered a drop in 2008.

Berkeley fared best, falling just 24% in share value, with Bellway close behind (-28%).

The most high-profile case was Taylor Wimpey (TW), whose massive £1.9bn debt left the future of the once-mighty player hanging in the balance.

TW's shares fell 93% last year and it would have been bottom of the class were it not for Oakdene (-94%).

No material gains

It was also a bleak year for materials firms, with none ending the year with a positive score.

The best any company managed was CRH, which recorded a 25% drop.