A difficult two years for Britain’s biggest estate agency chain got worse yesterday when shares fell by 30% after the company announced that it would be seeking new funds to cut its debt pile.
Shares in Countrywide, which owns 50 high street estate agency brands, including Hamptons International, Bairstow Eves and Bridgfords, dropped to a record low of 55p yesterday after the group released its fourth profit warning in eight months.
Like all estate agents, Countrywide has been struggling in a difficult housing market: homeowners are sitting on their hands at a time of economic uncertainty, house prices are slowing or falling across London and the South East, and landlords are feeling the effects of a government clampdown.
