Construction company Basil Read is no longer on a downward slide the company has been stabilised following restructuring initiatives, CEO Marius Heyns said earlier this week.

Basil Read moved to quell nervousness in the market following its announcement earlier this week that four nonexecutive directors had resigned.

The announcement was the latest in a spate of negative news from the group, including a warning that earnings would plummet between 190% and 210%, and the resignation of previous CEO Albert Bernardo.

Heyns said this week that there was nothing sinister about any of the resignations.

The four French directors' departure stemmed from changes in the ownership of Basil Read, he said.

Just more than 70% of Basil Read was previously owned equally by three divisions of French parent company Bouygues. Civil works division Bouygues Travaux Public had now become the sole owner of the stake in the South African business.

The four directors who resigned were aligned with the two Bouygues divisions that had sold their stakes in Basil Read.

Heyns said that many of Basil Read's woes stemmed from problematic cross-border work. The group was now trimming its crossborder activities.

"Things are looking very positive for the new year," Heyns said.

The group would still report significant losses for the year to December 2004, he said, but the order book was "fairly good".

Heyns could not disclose further details because Basil Read is in a closed period.

He also said the company was pursuing alternative empowerment plans after an initiative failed towards the end of last year.

Basil Read would have to get itself into better shape to be attractive to empowerment parties, however.

Heyns is the first South African to be appointed to head the company in 10 years.

The three previous CEOs during this period had come from Bouygues in France.

Heyns said the unfamiliar nature of the South African market to French managers could have contributed to the group's slide.

Basil Read closed down 8,24% at 78c on the JSE Securities Exchange SA yesterday. It has fallen dramatically from its 240c high last year.