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.