Another way to profit in the shale-gas boom

Article Excerpt

CRITICALCONTROL SOLUTIONS CORP. $0.54 (Toronto symbol CCZ; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (1-877-215-5883; www.criticalcontrol.com; Shares outstanding: 45.8 million; Market cap: $28.4 million; No dividends paid.) sells software and services that help businesses better manage, access and store their information. CriticalControl gets about 60% of its revenue from clients in the oil and gas industry, followed by government (20%), health care (10%) and finance and retail (10%). In the three months ended March 31, 2011, Critical-Control’s revenue fell 6.2%, to $12.2 million from $13.0 million a year earlier. Revenue at the Service Bureau Operations division rose 10%, while revenue at the Canadian Energy Services division was flat. Revenue at the U.S. Energy Services division fell 28.0%. CriticalControl’s earnings rose slightly in the quarter, to $514,000, or $0.01 a share, from $510,000, or $0.01. The gain was mainly due to higher profit margins at the Canadian Energy Services division. Shale gas meters in high demand The company makes traditional dry flow meters for natural gas wells, and electronic…