One of our recommendations from last year, the online marketing specialist Interactive Prospect Targeting (IPT), took a hefty tumble following news that net fee income for the first half of 2007 will be below 2006, with margins in certain areas of the business coming under pressure.

Though of concern, the share price fall looks exaggerated, given that IPT unveiled stellar numbers for an exciting 2006 and is still forecasting turnover ‘at least’ 40 per cent ahead of last year for 2007. Moreover, the inexorable online advertising phenomenon continues to underpin the group’s prospects.

For the calendar year, pre-tax profits at the email-marketing specialist surged 82 per cent north to £4.4m on turnover up 77 per cent to £24.1m, operating margins increased from 15 per cent to 20 per cent. Basic earnings increased by 47 per cent to 8.4p, and headline earnings doubled to 9.6p.

As well as developing and launching new websites and products, 2006 was a year of acquisitions for IPT, among them Direct Excellence – a key step in the development of the group’s presence in online market research – and Directinet, the number one direct marketing player in France.

This key deal gave IPT a leadership position in the provision of online direct marketing services in both the UK and France, which together account for 64 per cent of the European online advertising market.