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Galliford Try has become the latest contractor to confirm it has begun furloughing staff and will not pay shareholders a previously announced dividend.

In an announcement to the City this morning, the firm said it was working to manage its working capital and preserve its liquidity through the disruption caused by the covid-19 pandemic.

It said: 鈥淚n the prevailing circumstances the board considers it prudent to cancel payment of the interim dividend of 1.0p per share announced on 12 March 2020. The board will at the appropriate time consider paying the interim dividend with the final dividend.

鈥淭he group is committed to fully supporting all staff and has implemented furloughing of personnel where appropriate.鈥�

The contractor did not say how many people will eventually be furloughed.

It also said the scale and duration of disruption to its activities and the impact on the supply chain was not yet clear.

>> Coronavirus: The major construction firms shutting their sites

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The announcement added: 鈥淔or this reason, it is too early to quantify the potential impact of covid-19 on revenue and operating profit, and hence it is not possible at the present time to provide guidance for our financial years ending 30 June 2020 and 30 June 2021.鈥�

Galliford Try said it was working with the NHS to help it increase capacity to meet its current challenges.

It also said it was keeping sites open wherever possible and added: 鈥淪ites that remain operating do so under the strictest of parameters, as set out by the Construction Leadership Council, in conjunction with our own rigorous risk assessments.

鈥淚n addition, where specific client instructions have been received, we are carefully managing temporary closure of sites to leave them in a safe state while they are closed.鈥�

It added it was planning for a 鈥渟peedy resumption of works as soon as conditions allow鈥�.