Firm has a turnover of £4.5bn but is now worth less than £160m
Kier’s share price slumped 10% yesterday as asset managers Neil Woodford and St James Place cut their stake in the firm.
Shares last closed at 87p, meaning the entire business has a market capitalisation of less than £160m.
Kier’s shares have already faced an onslaught this summer, with the price falling 50% in a week between 30 May and 6 June after a writedown, before falling a further 40% in the middle of June after chief executive Andrew Davies announced a restructuring which will see 1,200 jobs go by next summer, along with a number of businesses.
On Monday, FTSE100 asset manager St James Place cut its stake in Kier from 3.8% by an unknown amount to less than 3%.
And Neil Woodford, which has been forced to freeze one of its accounts over problems translating assets into cash, has reduced its stake in Kier from 15.87% to 13.97%.
It comes as one asset manager, Squarepoint Ops, has increased its short position on Kier to 0.9% – making the firm the third most shorted on the London Stock Exchange, according to shorttracker.
On 10 July last year, Kier shares traded for 958p.
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