(Adds UK government confirmation)
LONDON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Britain's defence ministry will
take back direct control of the operation and development of the
country's nuclear weapons from a consortium of Lockheed Martin
, Serco and Jacobs Engineering in June
2021, it said on Monday.
Operation of the Atomic Weapons Establishment, which
maintains the warheads for the Trident submarine-based nuclear
deterrent, was awarded to the AWE Management consortium in 1999
under a 25-year contract.
Lockheed Martin owns 51% and Serco and Jacobs Engineering
own 24.5% each of the consortium.
The government said ending the commercial arrangement early
would improve its agility in managing the UK's nuclear deterrent
and deliver value for money to the taxpayer.
Serco said it was told about the termination of the contract
late on Friday. Shares in Serco fell 13% in early deals.
Based in Aldermaston in southern England, AWE is also
required to retain the capability to design a new weapon, should
it ever be required.
The company said AWE was expected to contribute about 17
million pounds ($22 million) to both its 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.
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.
($1 = 0.7768 pounds)
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Sarah Young and Louise
Heavens)