Security and recruitment services group Newcourt said annual net profit surged to €1.7 million last year after the company consolidated acquisitions it made in the previous two years.

Net income rose from € 41,000 in 2004, according to the first set of results Newcourt released since selling shares in November and listing the stock on the Alternative Investment Market and the Irish Enterprise Exchange.

Profit in the first few months of 2006 "hasn't disappointed us," chief executive Ted O'Neill said.

Full-year sales advanced 53 per cent to €65.3 million, of which €13.8 million was related to acquisitions.

The company, which operates through a range of businesses including Sigmar Group and Federal Security, is pursuing expansion to benefit from faster economic growth in Ireland. It already employs about 1,500 people nationwide.

"We're working on a number of acquisitions at the moment in the security, recruitment and related support services fields," Mr O'Neill said.

"Our objective is to become 'the' quoted support services group."

Newcourt last week said it paid €2.69 million for the People Group, a Dublin-based recruitment company. The purchase, made by Newcourt's recruitment subsidiary, Sigmar Group, included certain profit targets. If these are met, an additional sum, capped at €5 million, may become payable.

People Group was Newcourt's second acquisition this year, following the recent purchase of Cork-based recruiter Kenny- Whelan & Associates.

"With the outsourced support services market still quite fragmented in Ireland, Newcourt has considerable expansion opportunities," said Florence O'Donoghue, an analyst at Davy Stockbrokers, the company's broker.

The company was created in 2002 by Mr O'Neill and Mr Philip Sykes, a former director of AIB Corporate Finance, to exploit the growing market for outsourced services.

Following Newcourt's initial public offering late last year, the two men's combined stake was diluted to about 13 per cent.