‘Intense competition’ hits Styles & Wood’s profits

SHOPFITTING and property services group Styles & Wood has warned its half-year profits will be “significantly below” last year’s figure due to a challenging first quarter.

The Altrincham group said it had faced “intense competition” in a market characterised by a 6.5% reduction in construction activity on last year.

As a result it expects half-year profits to be below last year’s £100,000 underlying figure, but revenue will be higher.

In a statement the company said: “However, as outlined at the time of the group’s preliminary results, we expect our revenues and profits to be heavily skewed towards the second half of the year.”

It added: “Despite the challenges faced, the group has continued to invest in its diversification into new sectors securing a number of significant contract wins across the healthcare, solar and commercial sectors. The group maintains robust relationships with key customers in the banking sector and has strong visibility of framework allocations for the remainder of 2013.”