Weak oil prices continued to hold back Shanks Group' s (SKS) hazardous waste division during the first half, but improved Dutch market conditions mean the waste management group is still on track to meet full-year expectations. Reduced industrial cleaning activity and lower volumes of sludge for treatment from the oil industry continued to hinder the hazardous waste division. The oil and gas sector accounts for half the division's revenue.
Management says its previously poor performing business in the Netherlands is showing "encouraging signs of improvement". A modest recovery in the construction market, the group's improvement programmes, as well as the benefit of an incinerator tax introduced earlier this year have contributed to a recovery in the commercial division's profitability. However, trading conditions in Belgium remain challenging.
