Clyde Process Solutions, the materials handling group, increased its pre-tax profits by 62 per cent to £5.5m in the year to February 28, in spite of the slowdown in the global economy, pushing the shares up more than 40 per cent on Wednesday.

The company, which two years ago bought MAC Equipment in the US for £43m, raised its revenues by 33 per cent to £82m, and said its forward order book at the year-end was £28m, up from £25m a year earlier. By the end of April, it had reached £32m.