A turnaround in net profit for the half year ending December 31 and an upbeat outlook sparked a 3.7 per cent rally in transport equipment company Maxitrans Industries ’ stock on Monday to 42.5¢. It posted an interim net profit of $2.6 million compared with a loss of $283,000 in the previous corresponding period, even as sales slipped 17 per cent to $124.8 million. The dramatic profit turnaround was caused by a $6.1 million writedown to goodwill in the previous result. However, the company added that its performance since the start of the year was significantly above the same time last year, even though the second half of fiscal 2009 had been bolstered by a strong order pipeline. Demand for Maxitrans ’ products in the first half of 2009-10 has been lifted by the federal government’s 50 per cent investment allowance for small business.