In a positive construction environment and thanks to a less severe winter, the leading Finnish building materials and contracting group Lemminkäinen saw first half turnover improve by 14.3% to €640.8m, led by increases of 21.9% in the road surfacing and aggregates division and by 21.3% at building contractor Alfred A. Palmberg.  The trading profit jumped from just €0.3m to €14.1m as Palmgren’s profit more than trebled to €16.3m and the seasonal loss in the road surfacing and aggregates division was reduced from €7.3m to €2.6m. At the running level before tax, the result moved from a €3.2m loss in the first half of 2003 to a €9.4m profit this time, whereas in the second half of last year a profit of €44.7m was recorded.  Capital expenditure was a quarter higher at €28.1m.  With the order book up by some 37%, the Lemminkäinen management describes the outlook for the year as very satisfactory.