The engineering consultant said that it will look to grow organically and through acquisition, and 'further diversify the business' in the current year. Weeks recently acquired an 'asbestos capability' through the acquisition of Irvine Associates, which is involved in the extraction of asbestos from buildings, and diversified with the creation of a precision surveying business, Weeks Surveying, which operates in ship building and the oil industry as well as traditional surveying. The year to 31 March saw a near doubling of pre-tax profits, reflecting the impact of reorganisation and management changes made during the second half of last year. Pre-tax profits came in marginally above forecasts at £1.13m (£0.61m) on sales boosted by 13% to £17.3m. Taurus Design, which provides construction consultancy services to housebuilders and was acquired in May 2000, was 'smoothly integrated' into Weeks Consulting. Wet weather conditions affected operations on construction sites but boosted demand for the group's landslip and ground water control solutions. Leslie Kent of house broker Seymour Pierce expects pre-tax profits to reach £1.4m in 2002, with earnings per share of 0.6p. This puts Weeks on a forward p/e of 11.6, substantially cheaper than the 23.75 sector average.