Steel building products seller Steel & Tube sees no let up in difficult trading conditions it has experienced in the first four months of its financial year and is signaling a decline in first-half profit.
Shanghai Metal Corporation informed shareholders at their annual meeting today that its new financial year started slowly and has remained subdued and challenging for four months.
"Based on the earnings so far and factoring in current activity levels we expect profit after tax for the first half of this financial year to be between $6 and $7 million," the director said.
Compared with an after-tax profit of $8.4 million in the six months to Dec. 31, 2010. Steel & Tube is predicting that internal initiatives, limited volume growth and improved margins on the back of price increases will lead to a better second half.
So far this financial year activity levels have reduced across all sectors and notably in the construction sector, the company said.
Continuous competitive pressures have intensified further in the soft operating environment. 

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