Sharewatch

News that Swiss corporate raider Tito Tettamanti has lifted his stake in Amey to more than 8% seems to have stabilised the share price of the beleaguered support services group.

Amey's share price held steady at 30.5p last week after dipping 3.9% the previous week. After a disastrous few months for Amey, management is believed to be looking at breaking up the group or finding a buyer.

Jarvis, a potential frontrunner for the group's transport infrastructure businesses, has seemingly done itself no harm by ruling itself out of any potential bid: the firm's share price rose 1.2% last week to 284.5p.

At the company's annual results meeting last week, chief executive Paris Moayedi said Jarvis was not interested in Amey, with which it is bidding as part of the Tube Lines consortium for the £16bn London Underground public–private partnership contract.

By far the biggest loser in the sector last week was High-Point Rendel. The consultant's share price crashed 63.4% to 7.5p after it announced a pre-tax loss of £2.5m and that it is relying on its directors and senior staff to bail it out by forgoing their salaries and offering loans. It seems High-Point Rendel could also use a Tito to ride in to the rescue.