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BAE Systems PLC on Wednesday reported higher annual profit and outlined confident growth plans, thanks to a ‘heightened threat environment’. The London-based defence contractor booked pretax profit of £2.57 billion in 2025, up from £2.69 billion in 2024, on revenue of £28.34 billion, up from £26.32 billion. Diluted earnings per share rose to 68.0 pence from 64.1p. The company declared a final dividend of 22.8p per share, compared with 20.6p in 2024, boosting the total payout by 10% on-year to 36.3p from 33.0p. This surpassed the sell-side analyst consensus listed on BAE’s website, which forecast the firm increasing its dividend 8.8% to 35.9p per share. BAE shares rose 3.8% to 2,105.48 pence on Wednesday morning in London, having gained 58% over the past year. In 2026, the weapons maker sees sales growth ranging from 7% to 9%, against £30.66 billion in 2025. It expects underlying EPS to grow by 9% to 11%, and sees the same range for underlying earnings before interest and tax, compared with £3.32 billion in 2025. BAE hailed ‘strong demand’ for its products, which also include planes, tanks and ships. ‘We believe our advanced technologies, deep domain expertise and global reach position us as an industry leader, enabling us to support customers (in addressing the heightened threat environment today and into the future,’ BAE said. ‘Looking ahead, our key growth drivers are spread across major markets and include multi-national endeavours, such as GCAP and AUKUS, which highlight the scale, global reach and longevity of our operations. Combined with our focus on faster-paced disruptive technologies and the seamless integration of these systems, we are well positioned for growth for many years to come.’ GCAP, or the Global Combat Air Programme, is a fighter jet development project involving the UK, Japan and Italy, started in 2022. AUKUS refers to the alliance between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Chief Executive Charles Woodburn hailed BAE’s ‘record order backlog’, adding: ‘In a new era of defence spending, driven by escalating security challenges, we’re well positioned to provide both the advanced conventional systems and disruptive technologies needed to protect the nations we serve now and into the future.’ Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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