Global human capital management consultancy Penna expects profits for the first half of its financial year to be ‘significantly ahead’ of the same period last year.

At Penna’s AGM today, chairman Stephen Rowlinson said: “We are about to complete the first half of our financial year and I am pleased to say that we have seen continued strong growth in revenue and profit. We expect profit before taxation will be significantly ahead of the same period last year.

“Our acquisition of Barkers was completed on 29 June 2009 and the integration of its business into the Penna Group is proceeding very well. Barkers has made a positive contribution to profit in the three months since acquisition.

“We continue to believe that a strong and liquid balance sheet is of great importance in today’s trading environment. I am pleased to note that our cash balance is currently around £7m and we remain debt free.”