Residential developer AVJennings has reported a 71.2 per cent fall in first-half profit, the slowdown in the housing market blamed along with the impact of Europe’s debt crisis.
However the company’s chief executive Peter Summers says the company expects to see a bounce back and “was strategically well placed to take full benefit of that recovery when it occurs”.
Summers was quoted in the Australian:
"The current forecast trends for immigration and population growth are strengthening and the shortage of supply in many areas of Australia will underpin demand.”
Meanwhile, last week one of Australia’s oldest construction companies, Kell and Rigby, went under administration and was forced cease work across a number of sites. Around 500 employees were left with an uncertain future with the company.
Kell told ABC’s AM radio show that he had been working with a partner over the re-structuring of the business and was ‘surprised’ over their decision to discontinue work with Kell.
“I’m doing the best I can to work through a difficult situation” Kell said.
“This is a firm that has been through two world wars and a depression… I want to make sure we can see ourselves through this one as well.”
Kell and Rigby have been responsible for some of the most notable landmarks in Sydney including Hyde Park, Town Hall and the ANZAC war memorial.
