22nd Nov 2016 07:22
LONDON (Alliance News) - Defence support services company Babcock International Group PLC on Tuesday reported growth in profit and revenue in the first half of its financial year and said it anticipates meeting its expectations for the full year.
The FTSE 100 group said it made a pretax profit of GBP163.5 million in the half-year to the end of September, up 12% from GBP146.3 million a year earlier.
Revenue for the period grew to GBP2.17 billion from GBP2.04 billion a year prior, while the group said its order book at the end of the half was flat at GBP20.00 billion. Babcock said 93% of its revenue for the full financial year to the end of March is in place, while 63% of revenue for the 2018 financial year also is now in place.
The group declared an interim dividend of 6.50 pence, up 7.0% from 6.05p a year before.
"Babcock continues to perform; delivering growth in revenue, profit and earnings, and maintaining healthy levels of cash generation and conversion," said Archie Bethel, Babcock's chief executive.
Bethel said the group's end markets remain positive, and it is well positioned to benefit from future outsourcing opportunities from its defence industry and civil customers, in addition to growing demand internationally for its services.
"Despite slightly slower organic growth, the board expects the full-year results to be in line with its expectations. We therefore remain confident of making good progress both this year and beyond," the CEO added.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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