Murgitroyd, the quoted patent agent and intellectual property consultant, is to shortly open an office in Edinburgh as it continues to pursue a strategy of carefully managed expansion.

Murgitroyd, the quoted patent agent and intellectual property consultant, is to shortly open an office in Edinburgh as it continues to pursue a strategy of carefully managed expansion.

The Glasgow-headquartered company has founded premises near the Gyle in the west of the city, to which three attorneys serving Edinburgh clients will be transferred in March.

Representation rights will also be established in Italy on February 1 with the opening of an office in the city of Milan, taking the group's network to 11 offices in seven European countries.

The developments were announced yesterday as Murgitroyd unveiled a bullish set of interim results.

Pre-tax profits climbed 85% to £1.19m in the six months to November 30, following the firm's £1.3m purchase of former Glasgow rival Fitzpatricks last June.

Murgitroyd partly attributed the increase to "improved gross margin and continued economies of scale following the integration of Fitzpatricks, as well as tight cost controls".

The acquisition helped Murgitroyd increase its stable of qualified attorneys from 33 last year to 47.

The expanded Murgitroyd said it has retained all of Fitzpatricks' former clients.

Group turnover climbed 18% to £11.2m in the half-year period. No interim dividend was proposed, but the board does intend recommending a final dividend.

Chief executive Keith Young said the group remains focused on growing both organically and through selective acquisition.

"We've done three acquisitions and we are not averse to doing more, but we are under no obligation to buy (other firms) just to prove we can," he said.

"Any deal would have to be earnings-enhancing."

In a note, corporate researcher Hardman & Co described Murgitroyd's half-year profits as "impressive", while stressing that stripping out Fitzpatricks' contribution suggested "nil or perhaps negative growth".

Young agreed with Hardman's conclusion that this was attributable to a change in sales mix.

There was an increased contribution from patent drafting, which is low turnover but high-margin business compared with other services such as trademark filing and searching.

Murgitroyd's gross profit margin for the period was 65.8% compared with a figure of 60.3% at the same stage last year.

The outlook for Murgitroyd's market appears bullish and the company said second-half trading to date has been "encouraging".

Latest statistics show that the number of patents filed at the European Patent Office climbed by 7% in 2005, the latest year for which figures are available.

The number of applications handled by the Community Trade Mark Office climbed 8.4% in 2006.

Murgitroyd shares closed down 32.5p at 447.5p.