Ready-mixed concrete producer RMC Group issued a profit warning today and said volatile markets were likely to continue into 2003, sending its shares down nearly a quarter.
RMC Group, which owns Irish building materials company Readymix, said its full-year profit before tax and exceptional items was unlikely to exceed €226 million amid a downturn in November and December.
With business hit by poor weather conditions in Europe and the United States, chairman Mr John Parker said "the trading outlook for our major markets in 2003 is both uncertain and fragile at this stage".
RMC said trading conditions across its key British, German and US markets worsened in the second half of the year, reflecting the sluggish global economy.
RMC shares were down 23.3 per cent at 295 pence sterling in London, having underperformed peers by 25 per cent over the past year.
Although trading in October was satisfactory, the group's overall performance in November was well down on last year, in part as a result of poor weather in the United States and an especially wet November in Europe.