Computer People Group Plc, the London-based supplier of contract programmers in the UK and US, yesterday announced interim pre-tax profit up 101% at UKP733,000 on turnover up 13.3% at UKP38.0m as the company picked up higher margin contracts in emerging areas, particularly personal computer networks. According to Richard Pinder, finance director, the results are encouraging but the company still has quite a long way to go to return to its previous levels of profitability. The company expects this profitability to improve further in the second half as the benefits of its UK management reorganisation begin to show. This consolidation cost UKP530,000 and consisted of the removal of six senior managers, who all had long term contracts. Through it, the company expects to save UKP200,000 in the second half, and UKP500,000 per year from 1995. The programme was in part enabled by the acquisition of The Span Consultancy in July for UKP5.5m (CI No 2,446). Since the acquisition, Roger Graham, chairman of Computer People, says that both companies have been working well together and Span is performing better than expected. The company’s revenues are split roughly two thirds UK and a third US, though this will become three quarters and one quarter with the first results of Span. In the UK, the company saw 10% growth in revenues to UKP23.8m, and operating profit up 43.3% at UKP1.1m. The consulting business, the core of UK operations, enjoyed 6% revenue growth to UKP21.9m, as the number of consultants on assignment increased 7.8% to 801. The company’s star UK performers however were the recruitment business with revenues up 76% to UKP1.5m and advertising sales doubling to UKP333,000. In the US, turnover was up 19.8% at UKP14.2m and profit up 184% at UKP690,000, continuing the recovery started in the second half of 1993. The number of consultants on assignment was up 13.5% at 428, consultants on billing up 3.8% at 459. Computer People attributes the threefold increase in operating profit to the placement of higher value people and more consultants on billing. Though the company is excited about the opportunities in the US, its sights are firmly focused on the UK, and in particular the North, where the company’s market share has been eroded over the last few years. The company will pay an interim dividend of a penny, none was paid last year. The market responded favourably to the news, and the shares added 10 pence to 195 pence.