Northbridge share holders unimpressed by strong results

Northbridge Industrial Services, which hires and sells specialist industrial equipment, saw its share price drop despite posting strong half year to date results. Indeed, the group is so confident in its progress that it is now actively seeking possible acquisitions. Eric Hook, chief executive of Northbridge, said: "We are encouraged by the group's development and the improvement in trading in the majority of our operations. Although the economic environment has slowed during the second half of the year we remain confident that the demand for our specialist equipment and continuing investment in our rental fleet will ensure that progress is maintained.We are still actively looking for further acquisitions to support our worldwide growth and we have both cash and additional borrowing capacity to take advantage of suitable opportunities as they arise."The board has declared an interim dividend of 1.75p, 13% up from 1.55p for the same period the previous year. The group added: "The revenue and profitability of the group continued to improve during the first half of the year despite ongoing global economic uncertainty and we expect this to be maintained during the second half despite the dearth of larger rental projects. The demand for the group's manufactured loadbanks has been at record levels and we expect the resulting sales, albeit at lower gross margin, will continue to partly offset any shortfall in expected rental revenues."The group now employs its own sales force in order to achieve direct access to the North American market for its products. Cash for the end of the period was significantly up from a loss of £.54m for the period last year to a profit of £1.4m.NR