j smart  co contractors plc on tuesday reported a jump in pretax profit for the first half of fiscal 2022 despite a dip in revenue but warned that its headline profit is unlikely to improve over the whole year the londonlisted construction company made a pretax profit of 64 million pounds 83 million for the six months ended jan 31 up from gbp890000 for the same period of fiscal 2021 the company attributed the rise to a gbp61 million profit on the sale of several industrial estates however smart  co said construction costs continue to rise and that it is seeing continued delays in its supply chain which is affecting the viability of its potential projects and eroding profits in completed and recently completed works this coupled with inflation rising utility prices and the general cost of living increases may have an impact on the demand in the property sectors we trade in the company said the board declared an interim dividend of 096 pence a share up from 095 pence a year earlier shares at 1347 gmt were down 30 pence or 19 at 1585 pence