30th Jul 2015 06:56
LONDON (Alliance News) - Defence contractor BAE Systems PLC on Thursday said its pretax profit fell in the first half of 2015 despite revenue increasing and said its order backlog has weakened since the end of 2014.
FTSE 100-listed BAE said its pretax profit fell to GBP508 million from GBP541 million in the half to the end of June, thanks primarily to higher financing costs. Revenue increased to GBP8.47 billion from GBP7.61 billion, boosted by incremental equipment sales on the Typhoon jet programme and a favourable exchange rate effect.
But BAE said its order backlog has weakened since the start of the year, falling to GBP37.3 billion at the end of June, from GBP39.7 billion at the end of December 2014.
BAE said it will pay an interim dividend of 8.4 pence per share, up 2% from the 8.2 pence per share it paid a year earlier.
"Overall, the business performed well during the first half of 2015 during which we have leveraged our capabilities in adjacent growth markets and maintained disciplined cost control. We have also continued to invest in developing skills and new technologies for the future. These actions have provided resilience through an extended period of reduced defence spending in some key markets and ensured that BAE Systems is well positioned to benefit from a generally improving market environment," said Chief Executive Ian King.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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