Chemring: British defence giant has record orders amid increasing global uncertainty
Aerospace and defence group Chemring has today announced a record order intake for the year ended 31 October amid booming demand for its countermeasures and sensors.
The group, which produces countermeasures and sensors for global defence markets, said today it had booked £756m of orders in the period, and it ended October with the highest ‘closing order book’ in a decade at £922m.
The company’s revenue for the period jumped 18 per cent and underlying profit before tax rose 17 per cent. Management hiked the group’s dividend per share by 21 per cent to 6.9p.
To capitalise on increasing demand for its products, Chemring said it is investing £120m to boost manufacturing capacity. This will, the company projected, deliver £85m of incremental revenue by 2026/2027.
Chief Michael Ord said: “2023 was another year of strong Group performance; and in an environment of increasing global uncertainty demand continues to grow for our mission-critical products and services.
“The outlook for global defence markets is increasingly robust, with continued growth expected over the next decade. This growing visibility gives us the confidence to continue to invest for the future, balancing near-term performance with longer-term growth and value creation.”
This comes as government ministers have urged investors to keep backing British defence giants like Chemring, BAE Systems and Babcock.
Last month, Defence secretary Grant Shapps warned insurance giant Aviva against divesting from the industry after the insurer announced plans to exit some not meeting internal policy benchmarks.