The share price of Codan has performed strongly in the last 12 months, more than doubling from about 60 cents to Monday’s intraday high of $1.50. Monday’s spike followed the announcement that the company expected to achieve a record net profit of approximately $30 million in 2009-10.

This would equate to earnings per share of about 18¢ - 15 per cent ahead of the consensus forecast - and give a price-earnings ratio of 8 based on Monday’s closing price of $1.43.