Coffey flags profit fall on lower commodity prices Engineering services group Coffey International's turnaround is proving to be slower than management anticipated, with the slump in selected commodity prices flowing through to a downturn in projects. As a result, the company has flagged a second half pretax profit that will fall short of the $23.7 million earned in the first half of the financial year, which ended in December. Previously it had forecast a second half pretax profit at least in line with the first half. ""Market conditions have deteriorated significantly in recent weeks with commodity prices, particularly gold, falling sharply. This has been accompanied by some broader loss of business confidence in the Australian market,"" it informed investors this morning. ""Coffey's Australian Geosciences and Projects businesses are experiencing an increasing number of project delays,"" it said. ""As a result, it is now unlikely that the company will achieve its previous market guidance of a H2 EBITDA [earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortisation] performance that equals or exceeds the H1 result.""