Public grief for Herring Baker for Herring
The Investment Column
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.It may not qualify as good news, which has been in short supply at Herring Baker Harris, chartered surveyors, but at least shareholders can be consoled that they are sharing their despair with as astute an investor as John Ritblat, the chairman of British Land who snapped up a 9 per cent stake last August.
His average buying price of 40p compares with yesterday's 12p, unchanged after the announcement of a hefty £7.65m loss. For anyone who has had the misfortune to be on the register since the fateful merger that created the company three years ago, the decline in the value of their stake has been a more galling 94 per cent.
Herring Baker is not alone - the whole surveying profession is suffering from vicious competition following the slump in property market activity of the past few years. For most of the profession, which keeps its figures hidden in partners' dining rooms, that has been a matter of private grief. For the handful of publicly quoted firms, however, it has wreaked havoc with their share prices - Herring Baker peaked at 190p in 1991.
With sales of £13.9m and staff costs and other overheads of £15.2m, there is no great mystery about Herring's problems. Mr Micawber would have understood only too well the industry's inability to match spending and income. What is most worrying about yesterday's announcement is the dilution imposed on shareholders by the decision to buy out of onerous lease agreements by issuing shares amounting to a fifth of Herring's existing share capital.
If a surveyor cannot get its own leases right, shareholders might rightly wonder what it can do.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments