Vistry’s share price has tumbled in the past few days following a profit warning and a spike in short-selling of its stock.

The housebuilding giant last Wednesday said its first half profit for the six months to June 30 will be “significantly lower” than for the same period last year due to the impact of discounting market homes to drive sales.

The discounts are part of strategy to boost cash generation, along with other measures including delaying or slowing the building of some sites to ensure alignment between build and sales rates.

The housebuilder, which turned over £4.3bn last year, has since seen its share price fall from 331.2p on Tuesday before the trading update to 264p this morning. Its share price has dropped by…