Aukett Swanke Share News (AUK)

Architecture and design firm Aukett Swanke lifted its pre-tax profit by 9% and said it would look to the Middle East for growth. Profit before tax £815,000 was for the six months to 31 March, almost 10% higher than last year's £750,000.The firm reported revenue up 21% from £7.6m to £9.2m, and earnings per share up 39% at 0.43p from last year's 0.31p.The company announced an increased interim dividend of 0.11p per share, up from 0.10p the year prior.Aukett Swanke chief executive Nicholas Thompson said the firm continued to invest in the Middle East where it believed there were good growth prospects.Thomspon said the firm had to deal with a number of external factors and still managed an improvement in performance."The run up to the general election in the UK caused some softening in the UK market in the first half whilst Russia and Turkey were impacted by, variously, currency volatility and political uncertainty which deferred local client decision-making."Shares in the firm were at 8.50p on Tuesday at 7:44, up 1.45%