The second half of 2009 was a period of expansion for catalogue-based antibodies distributor Abcam wich increased the size of its catalogue, boosted its sales and craked up its profits.Sales in the six months to 31 December jumped 37.8% to £31.8m from £23.1m the year before, or by 25.3% on a constant currency basis.Profit before tax surged 64% to £11.2m from £6.8m as the company increased its range of products from 47,870 products at the end of 2008 to 57,960 products at the end of 2009.Net cash at the end of the year had improved to £33.0m from £20.9m at the end of 2008, and the company has elected to hand a chunk of this over to shareholders with a doubling of the interim dividend to 5.42p. 'I am pleased to report that trading so far in the second half of the financial year has been in line with expectations. This is encouraging, although it is still too early to assess what impact if any there will be on our trading as governments and companies across the world deal with the legacy of the recession,' said chief executive officer Jonathan Miller.