Crosby Group, the UK housebuilder owned by Lend Lease, plunged £69.5m into the red in 2008 after land writedowns of £80.4m

The group said it had “endured a challenging year”, which it blamed on “reduced homebuyer confidence and falling house prices”. The loss compares to a pre-tax profit of £23.6m in 2007 while turnover was down 5% from £133.3m in 2007 to £127.2m in 2008.

The total pay packet of the highest-paid director fell by 40% from £795,000 to £478,213.