Regeneration specialist St Modwen plunged into the red during the first half of this year and announced on Monday it was halting attempts to sell residential land until the market had 鈥渟tabilised.鈥�

Shares in the group were down from 310p before the announcement to 275.5p when 好色先生TV went to press on Wednesday.

The statement revealed more than 拢37m of writedowns on residential sites and 拢16.9m on its commercial sites. This led to a 拢20m pre-tax loss in the first half of the year, against a 拢65.1m pre-tax profit during the same period last year.

St Modwen鈥檚 net asset value fell by almost 拢20m to 拢448.2m in the first half.

Bill Oliver, chief executive, said: 鈥淭he speed of the downturn in residential land caught everyone by surprise. It has been a collapse.鈥欌��

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