Profit at Scottish contractor and housebuilder Stewart Milne has slumped 40% as a result of the ailing housing market.

The privately owned firm reported a pre-tax profit of £25m for the year to June 2008, down from £42m in 2007. It reported a 21% rise in turnover to £420m from £348m last year and confirmed it had made 278 redundancies, which is about one fifth of its staff.