Countrywide’s share price has dived over 50 per cent during the course of the day, following news of LSL pulling out of takeover talks.

The share price dropped by around a third within minutes of the LSL move; during the morning it worsened further and by lunchtime it was down over 51 per cent at 84.10p.

Almost all property sector share prices have dropped significantly today, as a result of another day of Coronavirus panic on stock markets, but those falls have been far less than that of Countrywide.

After LSL pulled the plug on a possible takeover, Countrywide issued a statement saying: “As announced by Countrywide on the 11th March, the Company has been seeing the benefits from its ‘Back to basics’ turnaround plan, with continuing operations having returned to growth in profitability. The board of Countrywide remains confident in the strength of the underlying business as an independent company.”

And it added: “The company has seen a positive mood swing in public sentiment through the early part of 2020 which we have seen reflected in a strong start in agreed sales which are ahead of the board’s expectations through February 2020. Whilst we have seen some softening in recent days as a result of Covid-19, it is too early to assess that impact.”

The company is to issue its 2019 full year figures by the end of this month.