Unidare, the Dublin-based engineering group, has reported a 46 per cent increase in pre-tax profits to €4.97 million for the six months to the end of March. Sales during the period almost doubled from €74.3 million to €135 million.

Turnover was enhanced by a first-time contribution from Oklahoma Rig and Supply (ORS) and a favourable movement in the value of the dollar.

More than 70 per cent of Unidare's sales are in the US and denominated in dollars, although the company reports in euros. The US currency has appreciated by 14 per cent since March 1999.

ORS, which wholesales oilfield and other industrial supplies, contributed in the region of $46 million to sales during the period, according to Mr Paul Duggan, the company chief executive. When the impact of the first-time contribution from ORS is stripped out, sales in the US operations were up 14 per cent in the period, he said. The purchase of ORS last July was bitterly opposed by the financier, Mr Dermot Desmond, and Mr Pierce Casey, another large investor. The two men control 29 per cent of the company. Mr Duggan declined to comment on whether he believed the interim figures proved that the two Dublin-based investors had been wrong to oppose the $60 million deal. "We never comment on individual shareholders," he said yesterday.

The company has made considerable progress in integrating ORS with Nasco, its existing welding products distribution business in North America, said Mr Duggan.