Corporate profitability to rise in 2010 - Rogan

Gartmore's Neil Rogan believes 2010 will see a sharp recovery in corporate profitability with valuations increasing by up to 15%.

Head of global equities Rogan, who manages the $816.7m Gartmore Sicav Global Focus fund, says the credit crunch led companies to cut costs and inventories much faster than they normally would in a downturn. Now, as the fourth quarter reporting season gets under way, companies are starting to see year-on-year revenue growth. "They have cut costs and inventories sharply but still have lots of spare capacity, so that revenue growth is flowing through to profits," Rogan says. "It might take three years to get back to peak revenues, but it might only take one or two years to get back to peak...