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BAE Systems PLC on Thursday said the company was ‘well positioned for sustained growth’ following strong performance in the opening half. The London-based aerospace, defence, and security company said in the first half that ended June 30, pretax profit fell 2.9% to £1.16 billion from £1.20 billion the previous year. Revenue increased 13% to £12.48 billion from GBP 11.00 billion, as operating costs grew 15% to £11.42 billion from £9.93 billion. BAE raised its interim dividend by 7.8% to 12.4 pence per share from 11.5p. Chief Executive Charles Woodburn said: ‘We have maintained momentum on key strategic activities, including AUKUS and the Global Combat Air Programme. We also continued evolving our technology portfolio through strategic acquisitions and the ongoing integration of our new Space & Mission Systems business. ‘Our order intake shows that demand for our products and services remains high and we are well positioned for sustained growth in the coming years. We will keep investing in new technologies, facilities and our people so that we can deliver on our record order backlog and help our government customers stay ahead in an uncertain world.’ Order intake reduced by 28% to £15.1 billion from £21.1 billion, although the company ended the period with a £74.1 billion order backlog, up 6.2% from £69.8 billion last year. In February, BAE acquired US-based Ball Aerospace for $5.5 billion from Ball Corp to increase exposure in the space market. Meanwhile, the acquisition of Malloy Aeronautics Ltd and Callen-Lenz Associates Ltd in the UK are to ‘significantly strengthen’ capabilities in unmanned air systems. Following the completion in the half of a £1.5 billion share buyback programme announced in July 2022, BAE commenced a second £1.5 billion programme, as confirmed in August 2023, on July 25. In total, £3.8 billion of debt finance was successfully raised, of which £3.2 billion was used to refinance a loan facility relating to the Ball Aerospace acquisition. Net debt, excluding lease liabilities, has now risen to £6.09 billion from £1.02 billion at December 31. In light of these results, full year guidance has increased with sales growth expected between 12% to 14%, from 11% to 13% previously. Underlying earnings before interest and taxes is now expected to grow 12% to 14% from £2.68 billion reported in 2023, up from prior guidance of 11% to 13%. Furthermore, underlying earnings per share is forecast to increase by 7% to 9% from 63.2p in 2023, up from prior estimates of 6% to 8% growth. BAE shares were up 0.4% to 1,302.50 pence each in London on Thursday morning. Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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