We recommended the support services play Weeks Group in the December/ January issue of Growth Company Investor at 4.5p - and the share price has since bounced up to 7p, showing a gain of 55 per cent in these dire markets. Weeks has consultancy expertise in areas such as flood damage, subsidence, waste management and pollution. It is a profitable business which has thrived in the recent climate upheavals that have swept across the UK. Domestic sales provide the bulk of the business but Weeks also has small interests in Poland and the Middle East.

Weeks underwent a bout of restructuring in the financial year to 31 March 2000 which left the group far better positioned to move forward. The company separated into two distinct operating divisions. Consulting accounts for around 60 per cent of turnover whilst Laboratories provides the other 40 per cent of the group's offering. Finance director Peter Griffith explained that the board has 'big plans for both sides of the business.'

The separation strategy appears to have helped its recent interim performance. An improvement in profit margins produced a turnover lifted to £8.6 million (£7.9 million) with pre-tax profits raised by 32 per cent to £628,000 for the six months to 30 September.

The company hopes to capitalise on increases in maintenance spending in the UK as well as responding to international demand. Weeks is a component member of the UK Subsidence Group, with Consulting at the forefront. However the Laboratories division also undertakes some materials testing for UKSG. Peter Griffith commented that the board is 'looking at diversification' within the laboratory side. He pointed out that the company's trained technicians are 'fairly readily transportable' to a wealth of other activities, as yet untapped.

A new stream of profitability was tapped into thanks to the Taurus acquisition, which provides civil engineering for house builders. Explains Griffiths, 'the board was looking around for other suitable acquisitions which might extend Weeks's product offering or its geographical presence'.

The share price currently sits at a new 2000 high of 7p, up from the previous price of 6.75p and comfortably above the low price of 3.25p. The shares look cheap as they currently trade on a prospective price /earnings ratio of 14. Weeks is currently capitalised at £10.8 million.

For 2001, housebroker Seymour Pierce has forecast pre-tax profits of £1.25 million with £1.5 million possible for the year after. The broker cited recent strong interim figures as reasons for the recent share price rise and investors should stick with the shares for now.