New members in 90% club

Barratt Developments, Bradford & Bingley and Taylor Wimpey have tumbled into the 90 per cent club in a sign of suffering in the housing sector, according to market research firm DigitalLook.com.

The club is made up of companies whose shares are worth just 10 per cent of their peak value over the past three years.

Barratt languishes at 131.2p compared to its three-year peak of 1,289p, while Taylor Wimpey is at 50.5p, down from a 518p high, and B&B lies at 54.7p, down from its height of 536p, and just below the rights issue price. Only 20 to 30 per cent of the shares offered by B&B in its recent £400m issue are believed to have been taken up by investors.

Andy Yates, director of DigitalLook.com said: "Some people might see the 90 per cent club as a portent of impending doom but you could equally see it as a positive sign."