BUILDING MATERIALS group Readymix expects to report a pretax loss of about €6.6 million for the first half of this year, a slight reduction on the €6.9 million loss recorded in the same period in 2009.

The company said revenues for the first six months of this year were down 29 per cent on the same period in 2009.

In a trading update released yesterday, Readymix said it did not expect an improved trading performance by the company in the second half of 2010 given the “challenging macroeconomic conditions, particularly as they relate to the construction sector”.

The company, which was involved in the construction of the Aviva stadium and the Titanic quarter in Belfast, recently said there was a lack of new infrastructural projects in the pipeline.

It booked a pretax loss of €3.8 million for the first quarter of 2010, and last year succeeded in implementing efficient cost-cutting measures which included job losses and renegotiation of contracts with suppliers.

Readymix, which has operations in the Republic and Northern Ireland, as well as the Isle of Man, employs approximately 360 people, half of whom are based in Dublin.