Qinetiq announces pre-tax loss
Defence group Qinetiq has said that it is unlikely to achieve its financial expectations after revealing a 104 per cent drop in its pre-tax profit in the first half of the year.
In its interim results covering the six months ending 30 September 2009, the company posted a pre-tax loss of £1.3m compared with a profit of £36.6m a year earlier.
However, the period saw the group increase its revenue by 11 per cent to £806.3m. Operating profit was up 17 per cent to £62.5m as a result of a margin increase of 7.6 per cent in its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) business.
The group also benefited from the removal of the equity-accounted results of Cody Gate Ventures, which incurred a £3.2m loss in the first half of last year. Overall, orders decreased to £675.9m, compared with £777.9m a year earlier, generating a book-to-bill ratio of 0.9:1.
John Chisholm, chairman of the company, said: ‘The board continues to believe that Qinetiq is well positioned to take advantage of the longer-term trends in the defence and security markets. However, currently both its main geographic markets are experiencing short-term uncertainties in specific areas.’
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