Great stock picks: CriticalControl reports lower revenue, higher earnings

CriticalControl Solutions Corp., symbol CCZ on Toronto, sells services and software that help business 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%). CriticalControl is one of the stocks we analyze in Stock Pickers Digest, our newsletter that helps you make great stock picks for the part of your portfolio you devote to aggressive investing. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, CriticalControl’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 a share. The gain was mainly due to higher profit margins at the Canadian Energy Services division. The company makes traditional dry flow meters for natural gas wells, and electronic flow measurement devices (EFMs) for shale-gas drilling. In response to a major increase in shale-gas drilling in the northeastern U.S., CriticalControl is expanding its EFM manufacturing plant in Indiana, Pennsylvania. You can get our clear buy/sell/hold advice on CriticalControl and dozens of other companies that may make great stock picks for the part of your portfolio you devote to aggressive investing in Stock Pickers Digest. What’s more, you can get the latest issue absolutely free. Click here to learn how.

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Jim Bates

Jim is an associate editor at TSI Network. He is the lead reporter and analyst for The Successful Investor and Wall Street Stock Forecaster and a member of the Investment Planning Committee. Jim has held the Chartered Financial Analyst designation since 1992 and spent more than a decade at the Financial Post DataGroup before joining TSI Network. He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto.

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