The engineering group, Unidare, has recorded a drop in pre-tax profits from €10.4 million (£8.19 million) to €8.5 million (£6.69 million) in the year ended September 30th 1999. A tough year had been predicted, but the results are better than expected. The market liked the results and pushed the shares up 10.5 cents to 192.5 cents.

The group is looking for a resumption of growth this year. And chief executive Mr Paul Duggan said he expected this growth to continue in the future. The main focus continues to be the integration of Oklahoma Rig and Supply (ORS) with Nasco, in the US. This is a "pretty large task". ORS, acquired in July despite resistance from Mr Dermot Desmond and Mr Pierce Casey, who control over 29 per cent of Unidare, is trading "ahead of what we were expecting", said Mr Duggan. "We are extremely busy with the integration", he said when asked about acquisitions. Any acquisitions are likely to be "quite small" and they would be bolt-ons to its existing operations.

The latest figures show a rise in adjusted earnings per share from 30.38 cents to 36.31 cents. Brokers are forecasting a rise to 40 cents this year.

Sales fell from €176.8 million to €171.7 million. However, £21.7 million of this was due to acquisitions which if excluded would indicate an underlying decline. The final dividend is being increased by 4.5 per cent to 17.65 cents per share, bringing the total up to 24.0 cents, up from 22.98 cents. Gearing amounts to 100 per cent but this would fall to under 50 per cent using the latest accounting treatment for goodwill.