Housing slump hits Lend Lease
The housing slump in Britain has hammered the bottom line of Aussie builder Lend Lease, responsible for the construction of London's Olympic village.
Problems in the UK prompted a A$121.5 million (£57.2 million) charge on property held by the UK Communities unit.
The writedown was carried out "in light of continuing difficult market conditions, which could see further pressure on residential sales prices and volumes", Lend Lease said.
Net profit fell 47% to A$265.4 million as the firm wrote down UK assets for the third year running. sydney-based Lend Lease said today operating profit might fall 15% this year.
Lend Lease runs a retail development investment business in the UK and has been in "public-private partnership" developments with the government, focusing on hospital and defence housing.
