(Adds details, shares)
LONDON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Britain's defence ministry will
take back direct control of the operations and development of
the country's nuclear weapons from a consortium of Lockheed
Martin, Serco and Jacobs Engineering in
June 2021, Serco said on Monday.
The three companies have managed the entity called AWE
Management, which controls the Atomic Weapons Establishment,
since 2000, with Lockheed Martin having 51% and Serco and Jacobs
holding 24.5% each.
Serco said it was told by Britain's Ministry of Defence
(MoD) late on Friday that AWE plc would transfer back under the
direct control and management of the MoD as from June 30, 2021.
Based in Aldermaston in southern England, AWE maintains the
warheads for the Trident nuclear deterrent and is required to
retain the capability to design a new weapon, should it ever be
required.
Shares in Serco fell 13% in early deals on Monday after the
company said it would lose the contract.
The company said AWE was expected to contribute about 17
million pounds ($22 million) to both underlying trading profit
and pretax profit in 2020.
It said, however, assuming a smooth handover of the contract
next year, it expected profit in 2021 to remain broadly in line
with current consensus and at similar levels to our expectations
for 2020.
Sky News, which first reported the news, said it was not
clear if the companies would receive compensation for the
termination of the 25-year contract, which was due to run until
2025.
Analysts at Jefferies said they expected some compensation
was likely as the consortium was now meeting its targets after a
period of underperformance about five years ago.
The MoD did not immediately respond to a request to comment.
($1 = 0.7768 pounds)
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Sarah Young)