CB Richard Ellis took a second successive beating on Wall Street yesterday.

The world’s largest property services firm saw its shares plunge by nearly 16% to $4.54 on Thursday, which followed the 15% drop on Wednesday.

Analysts are concerned that CBRE has a high level of debt and that it might breach its debt covenants. CBRE’s gross debt at the end of June was $2.5bn (£1.57bn) and its net debt was $2.25bn (£1.4bn), or 2.8 times its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $816m (£513m).

CBRE’s major rival, Jones Lang LaSalle, was also hit yesterday. JLL’s shares dropped nearly 6% to $25.44, following a 9% fall on Wednesday.

October has been a terrible month for both New York Stock Exchange-listed firms. CBRE’s shares began the month at $13.37 and fell to $8.44 in a week.

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