Marlowe (MRL:AIM) 382.5p

Gain to date: 23.4%

Original entry point: Buy at 310p, 23 March 2017

The boss of fire and water safety specialist Marlowe (MRL:AIM) says July’s acquisition of Ductclean UK is the best acquisition the company has ever made.

Chief executive Alex Dacre says the ventilation maintenance industry has better growth prospects than fire and water because many companies don’t realise they need do it in order to meet safety legislations.

Dacre says Marlowe has already managed to cross sell ventilation maintenance services to existing fire and water customers including Bourne Leisure which operates the Haven and Butlins holiday parks.

Marlowe’s half year results on 11 December showed 90% rise in pre-tax profit before one-off items to £2.4m and 104% hike in revenue to £36m, boosted by acquisitions.

Dacre reckons the group achieved 3.5% to 4% organic revenue growth.

The water treatment and air hygiene division has seen a 4% rise in operating margins following four acquisitions. The fire services division hasn’t seen uplift in margin yet as it is still building route density and scale, says Dacre.

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