Some stock watchers believe this could be in anticipation of the sale of its construction arm – although a clear favourite to snap it up has yet to emerge. Whatever the reason, it is some improvement from its price last spring, around the 190p mark.
Equally encouraging is the performance of Mowlem, which was up 14.5p earlier this week to 148p (bear in mind that it hit a low of 80p last year). And in support services, Jarvis has been winning some plaudits after a dramatic dive last year. Shares jumped 13p to 265p this week, largely on the back of the east coast rail maintenance work it won last week.
The win was at the expense of Balfour Beatty, which is going through a testing time, what with possible criminal charges over the Hatfield crash. Its shares dropped 12.5p to 126.5p earlier this week.
Analysts believe that the largely positive moves in construction are in anticipation of the government's infrastructure spend – which has yet to take off.
