RPS on track for full year

Natural resources, land and property consultancy group RPS posted a slight increase in pre-tax profit during the second half and said it remains on course to meet full year forecasts.The group, which provides advice on the exploration and production of oil and gas, revealed pre-tax profit of £19.9m during the six months ended June 30 compared to £19.1m a year earlier. Revenue for the period rose to £276.1m from £251.5m. Profit before tax, amortisation of acquired intangibles and transaction related costs climbed to £30m from £22.5m.Commenting on the results chairman Brook Land said: "The group remains on track to deliver good growth in the full year. We continue to invest in markets less affected by economic turbulence, whilst managing our business carefully in markets where client expenditure remains affected by economic uncertainty.""This strategy has positioned us well, with over two thirds of group profit now being earned outside Europe." The group's dividend payment has been increased to 3.06p per share from 2.66p the year before. Basic adjusted earnings per share rose to 9.80p compared to 7.21p and diluted earnings per share fell to 5.65p from 6.26p before. The group added: "July 2012 marked the 25th anniversary of RPS's introduction to the public markets. Over this period our growth has only been disrupted by the deep recession of the early 1990's and the recent global financial crisis. Between those two events we delivered a long period of sustained growth. The Board is confident that, as economic conditions allow, the group's business model should enable us to produce another period of good growth".CJ