Qinetiq annual profit and revenue rise; keeps outlook unchanged

(Alliance News) - QinetiQ Group PLC on Thursday said annual profit and revenue shot up thanks to a boost in orders and in revenue from the US.

QinetiQ is a Hampshire, England-based science and engineering company operating in the defence, security and critical infrastructure sectors.

For its financial year that ended March 31, pretax profit was up 72% at GBP154.4 million from GBP90.0 million the previous year.

Revenue increased 20% to GBP1.58 billion from GBP1.32 billion,

The company said this was assisted by a growth in orders of 41% to GBP1.72 billion from GBP1.23 billion, growing the company backlog to GBP3.10 billion from GBP2.83 billion.

Business was boosted particularly in the US, with 25% revenue growth and a high order intake of USD280 million.

QinetiQ also noted that profit the comparison year was hurt by a GBP14.5 million write-down on a "complex project".

The company declared a final dividend of 5.3 pence, up 6.0% from 5.0p a year before. This raised its full-year payout to 7.7p, a 5.5% rise from 7.3p the previous year, which QinetiQ said is in line with the company's progressive dividend policy.

Looking forward, QinetiQ said its outlook for current year remains unchanged, with high-single-digit organic revenue growth expected and stable margins of 11% to 12%.

The company announced upgraded guidance that would approximately double its revenue and profit over the next four years, a 20% improvement on previous guidance.

Chief Executive Officer Steve Wadey said: "We have accelerated our global ambition to build an integrated global company with GBP3.0 billion revenue by financial year 2027.

"We move forward into financial year 2024 with optimism due to our track-record of performance and confidence in our strategy. We are proud of the critical role we play serving the national security interests of our customers."

QinetiQ shares were up 1.4% at 375.11 pence in London on Thursday morning.

By Will Neill, Alliance News reporter

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