National Car Testing (NCT) profits increased substantially last year as more people held onto older cars as the economy continued to slow.
The company, which has a ten year contract with the Department of Environment to test old cars, posted a five-fold increase in pre-tax profit, from €858,000 to €4.6 million.
Turnover increased by 48 per cent to €25.6 million while the company's accumulated losses fell from €5.9 million in 2001 to €1.9 million at the end of 2002.