Although chairman Bill Douie warned there was 'an audible rumble of distant thunder' economically speaking, he said that trading remained sound in ATA's key recruitment areas. All of the human resource outfit's businesses performed creditably in the half year to 30 June, contributing to a 31% upswing in pre-tax profits to £420,000, on sales boosted over 90% to £6.6m. Although the foot-and-mouth epidemic had a short-term adverse affect on its two Fairbourne ventures and Sloan Shrago, all three have since returned to expected levels of trading. A review of Catalis, its foray into the railway training industry, acquired last November, is now largely complete. Catalis is a training services provider which carries out audits of training standards for the railway industry, to which the government has committed extra funding. Douie explained that it serves industries less likely to be affected by the changing economic climate. Earnings per share sparkled by 5% to 3.46p.