F-B-F.org -

The full-year figures saw the company register a 57 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £12.7m and a 12 per cent rise in the dividend, to 3.4p per share. By the end of the current year, analysts expect Robert Walters’ profits to hit £15m. Buy.HAYSThe deregulation of Continental Europe’s jobs arena is a great opportunity for recruiters and Hays is taking advantage. It has delivered a 40 per cent jump in the fees it earns from overseas operations Last year it bought back £312m worth of its own shares. At 16 times forecast earnings for 2006, the stock is at a slight premium to the UK market but in line with peers. Hold.HENDERSONHaving disposed of both its closed life insurance book and UK financial advisory arm last year, Henderson’s transformation into an uncomplicated fund manager is done.

But what’s next? A bid for rival Gartmore is fraught with problems, and medium-sized firms that have tried to be all things to all people in the past have not got far. Take profits.TAYLOR WOODROWIf it was not for the performance of its US house building division the latest annual results from Taylor Woodrow would have been dire. Britain’s third-biggest house builder managed a 2 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £411m thanks to a whopping 56 per cent jump in profits at its US operations. But now clouds are gathering for the company across the Atlantic, avoid.DEVROFull-year profits from the food-casings maker Devro came in slightly below expectations.

To blame was the fact the company had one fewer trading week in December Still pre-tax profits rose to £25m from £18m previously. The shares trade at 14 times forecast earnings and are fairly priced.STANDARD CHARTEREDStandard Chartered, makes over three-quarters of its earnings from Asia, has unveiled bumper profits for 2005 and a stiff hike in its dividend. At almost $2.7bn (£1.5bn), pre-tax profits rose 19 per cent last year after the £3.3bn purchase of Korea’s SC First Bank began to pay off. Buy.ALIZYME Alizyme shares are up nearly 50 per cent and were up again this week following positive trial data from the biotech’s ATL104 treatment for Mucositis ATL104 is not even Alizyme’s most exciting product. Cetilistat, an anti-obesity formula, is widely talked of as a likely blockbuster It also has a further two products on the way. While there is no guarantee that any of these drugs will actually make it, Alizyme should be a core holding for biotech bulls.SHL GROUPSHL Group is a world leader in psychometric testing. These are increasing used in the recruitment process of large companies so it is no surprise that SHL has unveiled solid results.

Buy the shares.ARENA LEISUREHaving spent many years disappointing the City, Arena Leisure has finally started to deliver for shareholders. Annual results from the racecourse owner revealed a 30 per cent jump in operating profits to £6.7m and a 10 per cent rise in sales. This is not a stock that is going to double overnight but should prove a good bet for long-term investors.Logica is in the right place to cash in on global outsourcingLogicaCMG has unveiled a 66 per cent rise in annual profits, thanks to the continued recovery in the IT services market last year.The group, which provides IT services to business customers, has a great opportunity to outperform. Over the past year it has rapidly grown its ability to provide services from low-cost offshore centres such as its facility in Bangalore.This should help it cash in on the growing trend among corporates to outsource their IT needs.At 18 times forward earnings the shares are not expensive, but risk factors make Logica just a hold for now.The above are recommendations taken from the daily Investment Column.m.jivkov independent.co.uk.

Are you investing primarily for capital growth or to generate a decent income? Paradoxically, savers who want the best possible capital returns over the long term are often best off selecting investments that seem more suited to producing a regular yield. The average fund investing in companies from across the UK stock market was up 37 per cent over the seven years to the beginning of February. The average equity income fund, which concentrates on companies paying above-average dividends, rose 53 per cent over the same period.
The 2006 edition of Barclays Capital’s Gilt Equity Study, published this week, includes an important reminder of just how important share dividends should be to investors, whether or not they need an income.According to the study, £100 put into a basket of UK shares at the end of the Second World War in 1945 would today be worth £7,372, assuming investors have taken all their dividends. Had this income been reinvested in the shareholdings, however, the portfolio would now be worth £107,487.In theory, companies that pay high dividends to shareholders risk jeopardising future earnings.