VT services business ahead of expectations
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Announcing its half year results today (11 November), the defence and support services company VT Group, said its expected its increasingly important services businesses would deliver annual figures ahead of its original expectations.
Interim results for the half-year ended 30 September showed group revenue, including its share of the joint venture naval shipbuilding business with BAE Systems (BVT), up 25% to £716 million (£573m) and pre-tax profit 284% up from last time at £131m (£34m).
Chairman Michael Jeffries commented: "In the current difficult economic conditions our Services businesses continue to make good progress. The strength of the order book and the longevity of contracts provides us considerable protection from the current short term effect of the economic downturn.”
The current services businesses order book stood at £4.6 billion, which represented an increase of more than 70%, Jeffries added. In addition, VT’s share of the order book of BVT was £1.5 billion. The total order book of £6.1 billion provided the group with excellent visibility.
He went on: “The performance of our Services businesses continues to show good growth, which we anticipate will deliver results ahead of our original expectations for the current full year. The full year results for VT's 45% share of the newly formed BVT Surface Fleet will be determined by progress on integrating the contributed businesses and ongoing contract reviews by BVT.
“Our strategy is to continue focusing on VT's core strengths by developing our engineering based Services businesses. The overall trading environment remains robust and continues to offer significant growth opportunities in our markets."
