City File: MJ Gleeson

THE market simply refuses to believe that any construction company is ever going to make money.

Shares in M J Gleeson had slumped from an absurd high of over 900p to under 600p over the past few weeks on profits fears. But they did not recover on Friday, after news that pre- tax profits had fallen a mere 16 per cent. This is unfair to Gleeson, one of the few groups in the sector which has done everything right.

The family management never believed in the permanence of the Thatcher-Lawson boom, wrote down its property early and has been able to pick up a land bank cheap over the past couple of years. It specialises in two healthy sectors: water projects and building for housing associations. It is even garnering higher rents from its developments. A safe haven while waiting for signs of recovery from its bigger, but less prudent, rivals.