Companies: MTG   

Galvanising specialist Metnor was marked 24.5p lower to 195p on dire interims to June reflecting the dramatic downturn in the telecoms sector. The group is diversifying to replace lost business. Pre-tax profits slumped 21% to £2.14m on a 41% fall in sales to £19.3m. Basic earnings before goodwill stood at just 10.4p (13.1p). Small company guru and chairman Jon Pither says telecoms failed to generate any revenue in the first half, compared with £16m in the year to December! However there were successes in other areas. Metnor Construction, formed in May, clinched a £12m deal to build a stadium for Newcastle Falcons Rugby Football Club. It should be completed by January 2003. And last year's expansion of the traditional Norstead business into Glasgow and London has borne fruit, with two offices having already clinched more than £13m of mechanical and electrical contracts between them. Over the past 18 months Pither says Norstead has been changed from a mechanical and electrical contractor into a 'principal contractor with complete design and build capability'. High-risk at present.