BAE Systems delivers 14% half-year profit boost
By By Rob Buckland
Defence group BAE Systems, which has major interests in Bristol, today shrugged off cuts in military spending around the world to deliver a 14% increase in first-half profits to £1.1 billion.
The group, Europe’s largest defence contractor, achieved a 9% increase in sales to £10.6bn in the six months to the end of June.
BAE said it “anticipates a challenging trading environment” as pressure grows on defence budgets across Europe and the US, but it still expects to continue to grow this year, fuelled by what it described as unprecedented levels of interest from Middle Eastern and Asian governments at last week’s Farnborough Air Show.
BAE’s interests in Bristol include design and manufacturing support on the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer programme and the yet-to-launch Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers, technical work on secure military communications, and a 37.5 per cent stake in MBDA, the European missile systems group which has a base at Filton.
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