Sharewatch

Like all good things in life, PFI comes at a price. First, there are the bid costs and the amount of time it takes staff to put the bid together: a bit of a hassle if you spend £3m and take 18 months to come second. Then, because the City is so in love with PFI, despite the derailing of Railtrack, if you do happen to miss out then your share price gets hammered. In short, although the rewards from the deals are high, so are the risks.

Carillion is the latest to feel the City's displeasure after it missed out on two PFI hospitals to Skanska-led consortiums. Its share price fell nearly 20p to the mid-120s after the news last week. It has yet to recover.

Carillion, which has spent £10m on bids this year, has seen its stock hover around the 150-170p mark since the summer after reaching 200p in April.

But in a sign of confidence that warmed even the frigid hearts of City analysts, chief executive John McDonough splashed out on 100,000 shares on Monday, doubling his stake.

"It's good to see he's putting his money where his mouth is. It's a good sign when execs up their stakes rather than selling them," said one analyst.

Fellow PFI-junkie Jarvis is enjoying a burst of popularity and has topped 500p for the first time in two years after a number of contract wins.