Companies: CPC   

Capcon, a Growth Company Investor recommendation at 63.5p last July, has waded in with strong interims to the end of March. The investigations and risk management outfit, chaired by Ken Dulieu, reported a 51.3% jump in profits before interest, tax and goodwill to £306,000. Meanwhile, profit before tax leapt from £33,700 to £114,200. Turnover moved 11.5% higher to £3.7m, and gross profits perked up 25% to £1.7m. Capcon continued to generate cash, paring half-time net debt back by £412,200 to £1.1m. VSA, the insurance investigator snared in 2002, upped its performance, lifting both sales and profits. And the first-half figures also felt the full six month effect of Argen, the significantly higher margin investigations business bought in February 2003. Argen is receiving instructions for high margin assignments from multinationals - these margins reflect the sensitive nature of the projects and the rising awareness of the damage done to corporates by serious fraud. Capcon's acquisitions to date have been integrated well, and an earnings-enhancing deal, most likely on the investigations side of the business, is a high second-half priority. For the full year, house broker Williams de Broe suggests profits of £640,000 on sales of £8.25m, giving earnings of 5.57p a share. A forward rating of 8.5 times looks way too low. A ripe time to buy.