CITY: BICC nears peak after climbing back

THE RECOVERY in the share price of BICC has been fuelled by a recommendation from Patrick Wellington of County NatWest. The cable group, which also owns the construction company Balfour Beatty, saw its share price collapse in the early autumn, but since the middle of October it has been staging an impressive recovery.

Mr Wellington visited the group last week and came back with the impression that not only were prospects improving in the US, but also that the group would maintain its dividend, which means its shares will yield an attractive 8 per cent.

The effect of this was to put 17p on the price on Friday, leaving the shares at 334p. Worries persist, however, about Balfour Beatty's exposure to Eurotunnel as one of the members of the TML consortium building the Channel tunnel, and about the likelihood of a recovery in the UK construction industry. The outperformance is probably over.

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