The profit warning comes after former Sweett CEO Douglas McCormick took over the reins from Paul Hamer in June and conducted a thorough business review.
In the trading statement this morning McCormick warned WYG operating profit for the half-year to September would be significantly lower than in the prior year.
He said the group would perform below expectations due to slow mobilisation of two major international contracts, legacy engineering projects continuing to underperform and Planning and Transport Planning practices trading below expectations.
McCormick said: “Having joined the business at the beginning of June and undertaken a thorough review of the budget and current trading, the board and I consider it appropriate to revise expectations as we are announcing today.
“The impact of the first quarter, largely from slow trading, together with some legacy issues make this both prudent and necessary.
“I have visited some 20 of our offices and spoken with several hundred of our staff in my first three months and I am firmly of the view that the underlying business is a sound platform from which to grow in the medium term.”
He added that the expected shortfall in performance and related working capital impacts would also impact on the firm’s net debt position.
“Together, these two factors have caused us to reduce our expectations of performance for the year as a whole.
“Looking further ahead the group remains very well-positioned in its core markets and growth prospects for the medium term remain very positive.”