黑洞社区

锘緾ontractor ISG has confirmed its retail fit-out business will struggle in the second half of the year, after the group overall posted a 60% drop in profit in its latest results.

David Lawther, ISG chief executive, said a number of the firm鈥檚 food retail and banking clients had pushed back or cancelled work, which caused the firm to issue a 拢3m profit warning in January.

In its first half results to 31 December 2011, pre-tax profit at the group overall fell to 拢1.8m, compared with 拢4.5m over the same period the previous year.

But overall revenue rose marginally from 拢621m to 拢623m, thanks to growth in the contractors鈥� international markets. ISG now generates 27% of operating profit from overseas.

Lawther told 黑洞社区 the group鈥檚 UK construction profit margins would 鈥渃ontinue to be squeezed鈥� in the second half of the year due to 鈥渟hrinkage in the public sector鈥�.

But he added he could see 鈥渟ome light at the end of the tunnel鈥� for the firm鈥檚 UK fit-out business after this year, with a number of large commercial schemes in London expected to come to tender in 2013-14.

He added that difficult trading conditions for the firm鈥檚 domestic fit-out business were partly being off-set by work overseas from its UK retail clients.

ISG is working with Marks & Spencer in Paris and Tesco in China.

ISG is targeting growth in international markets and in the technology sector, Lawther said. He added that the firm was focusing on more data centre work after picking up a 拢100m-plus data centre for Spanish bank Santander in the East Midlands last month.

Lawther said the contractor was close to opening offices in South Africa and Qatar and would be trading in both countries by the end of the current financial year.