At the interim stage CSS, which is carving out a niche in the sports/entertainment management and marketing sector, improved sales to £17.8m (£6.7m) and pre-tax profits (before amortisation) to £1m (£770,000). Profits would have been significantly higher but for various exceptional charges. Most of the rise in sales is due to the contribution of PFD and GEM, two recently acquired ventures. This year the group has completed a £9.5m fundraising and expanded its operational base by paying £3.45m for Craigie Taylor International. It also purchased Vertical Mix Marketing for £278,550; Backporch, which cost £100,000; and Toronto-based Echo Group, for an initial £4.13m. In July it picked up JR Financial Services for an initial £10,000 in cash and the provision of financing facilities of up to £975,000. Chief executive Julian Jakobi is confident of leading the business to full-year sales of around £40m and pre-tax profits (before amortisation of goodwill and exceptionals) of about £5.3m. This confidence does not seem misplaced because this once-tiny company now boasts a global management and marketing business that represents over 1,000 sports and entertainment talents and more than 40 blue-chip clients. Even more alluring, perhaps, is the fact that, despite all this activity, CSS still has cash balances of around £3.4m and is trading on a p/e of just over 5 for this year.