Pochin ‘creditable’ in tough market

CHESHIRE construction group Pochin is facing up to drifting property yields and a collapsing housing market.

But chairman Richard Fildes said the Middlewich-based group was, “performing creditably in difficult conditions”.

In an interim management statement covering the period from June 1, Mr Fildes said the group’s homes division had been scaled back to a “minimum level of cost”, until demand for housing resumes.

Rental income at the property division is being “maintained satisfactorily”, but Mr Fildes said property yields continue to drift with an adverse effect on investment values and development appraisals.

There was better news from Pochin’s contracting division which has a healthy order book and has won a £20m contract for a Welsh Assembly Government office building in Llandudno.

Conditions for the concrete pumping business remain difficult, with operations in the North and the Midlands bearing the brunt of the downturn.

Last month the group said its annual pre-tax profits fell to £1.8m from £9.1m last time. Turnover dropped from £116.6m to £115.3m.