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(Alliance News) - BAE Systems PLC on Tuesday reported a larger order book amid increased global interest for its weapons systems, as it announced profit and revenue growth.
The defence, aerospace and security company said pretax profit climbed 17% to GBP2.33 billion in 2023 from GBP1.99 billion a year prior.
Revenue grew 8.6% to GBP23.08 billion from GBP21.26 billion.
BAE recommended a final dividend per share of 18.5p for 2023, taking the total to 30.0p, up 11% from 27.0p paid for 2022.
The order book meanwhile rose 19% to GBP58.0 billion from GBP48.9 billion. The company cited M777 deployments to Ukraine and increased interest from armies around the world.
"Our investments in core franchises and our next-generation priorities such as: space; autonomy; sustainability; advanced manufacturing; and multi-domain and digital integration, are driven by the evolving threat landscape. At a tactical level, the conflict in Ukraine is highlighting the importance of
a number of these key technologies, especially autonomy, synthetic training, digital and multi-domain capabilities, while also reinforcing the critical need for munitions and maintaining legacy capabilities," BAE said.
Looking ahead, the company cited a "robust" outlook for its US government services sector in Intelligence & Security, with the opportunity for mid-term growth despite highly competitive market conditions.
BAE shares fell 1.9% to 1,229.50 pence each on Wednesday morning in London.
By Tom Budszus, Alliance News slot editor
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