Fight for margin advantage leaves national housebuilders bricking it

摘要

Persimmon - many would agree the doyen of national housebuilders - shocked most seasoned observers when the group's 2 November trading statement revealed that it was building a brick plant near Doncaster, which would supply a "substantial" number of its homes from spring 2017. Cue panic among investors in brickmakers. Shares in Forterra, for instance, initially fell by some 6% on fears that the former Hanson Building Products, which had returned to the stock market in April, faced a new competitive front.