THERE was still no evidence of any significant upturn in business,
Shanks & McEwan Group chairman Gordon Waddell warned in his annual
statement with the accounts yesterday.
Until it occurred he said that normal pre-tax profits of the group's
important waste-handling divisions were unlikely to differ materially to
those of the past year.
Mr Waddell added that the construction division was likely to incur
losses of the order of #3m. The loss last year was over #17m, including
provisions.
Increases in environmental costs are referred to by chief executive
Roger Hewitt, who anticipates that these will continue to grow in the
future and that it will be some time before they are fully recovered in
pricing structures.
Mr Hewitt says that in some areas activities have been impacted by
short-term price-cutting tactics, with some operators anxious to retain
market share.
He believes that improvement in market conditions, through sustained
economic recovery, will assist the return to sensible prices that will
aid the full recovery of costs.
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