Weeks, the building and environment consultant, rolled out disappointing half time figures to September on a margin squeeze, but its long term prospects look very solid. In the first half, turnover rose by 17% to £10.6m as the group enjoyed healthy growth in both the consulting and laboratories division. Sadly for shareholders, pre-tax profits slipped by 30% to £354,000 as Weeks invested in its laboratory facilities - profits were also pegged back by a resource shortage in its consulting business, which forced the use of more sub-contract staff, and higher insurance costs. Nevertheless, Teather & Greenwood analyst Adam Lawson says Weeks enjoys a healthy order book and will see rising demand for specialist environmental services like asbestos consulting and analytical chemistry and structural investigations. Lawson has reigned in his 2003 forecasts, and investors should now expect profits of £1.1m on sales of £22.5m for the year. On forecast earnings of 0.46p, the shares trade on a forward p/e of just 9.2 and the prospective yield is an attractive 4.2% - better than you'd get in the bank. A touch oversold perhaps.