J Smart expects profits to slip

CONSTRUCTION contractor J Smart yesterday said it continues to expect underlying profit this year to be lower than last year.

The Edinburgh-based company said that its operations in contracting, private housing and property development were proceeding “satisfactorily”. But its interim management statement said the “hiatus in private residential sales” flagged in its annual report had continued and said there had been no sign of an improvement in occupancy levels in commercial and industrial space.