RPS's first-half profit drops on oil and gas weakness, but revenue rises

(ShareCast News) - RPS Group posted a drop in first-half pre-tax profit following weakness in the oil and gas sector, although revenue rose as the consultancy company was able to offset the worst effects of the downturn thanks to the diverse range of its activities and geographies.Pre-tax profit for the six months ended 30 June fell 17.5% from the same period a year ago to £17.9m, but revenue rose 1.7% to £284.1m.The energy consultancy lifted its interim dividend by 15% to 4.66p.Chairman Brook Land said: "RPS is a diverse company: we operate across a broad client base in a wide range of geographies and sectors. These characteristics have protected our trading and balance sheet despite the significant downturn in expenditure by our oil and gas sector clients during the first half of the year."At 1448 BST, RPS shares were down 2% at 215.75p.