Qinetiq maintains full year outlook as it increases US presence
Defence and security company Qinetiq maintained its guidance for the full financial year this morning, as it announced that its US presence would increase to around 25 per cent of group revenue.
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The figures
Underlying operating profit rose 16 per cent in Qinetiq’s half year results, rising to £59.7m from £51.6m in 2018.
Revenue also rose by the same percentage, reaching £486.5m for the six months ending 30 September.
The defence company, who are based in Farnborough, booked a total of £410.8m orders for the period, up from £298.1m the year before.
Earnings per share were up 14 per cent to 9.2p, with an interim dividend of 2.2p.
Why it’s interesting
Qinetiq hit the headlines last month when the company announced that it had bought US firm Mteq for $105m, a deal that more than doubled the size of its North American operations.
The purchase, with its awaiting approval and is expected to complete by the end of this financial year, will create a $300m US operation, with 750 employees.
Qinetiq aims to combine Mteq’s expertise in advanced sectors with its existing capabilities in robotics and autonomous technologies.
The company also celebrated strong growth in its international division, with orders up more than 50 per cent over the first half of the year.
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The award of a £67m contract from the UK ministry of defence to develop innovative new satellite receivers rounded out the robust results.
What Qinetiq said
Steve Wadey, Group Chief Executive Officer said:
“Our strategy to drive value for our customers and shareholders continues to gather momentum. We delivered a strong first half result, with organic growth in orders, revenue and profit driven by a good performance across our businesses, both in the UK and internationally. We are maintaining expectations for full year operating profit with high single digit revenue growth.
“Our focus for the remainder of the year is to win further campaigns globally, successfully deliver key programmes, and complete the acquisition of MTEQ to transform the scale of our US operations as we build an integrated, global defence and security company.”
Shares rose more than five and a half per cent in the morning’s trading.
Main image credit: Getty