Defence technology group QinetiQ (QQ.) secured its largest order intake in nearly a decade in the year to 31 March. On the back of £168m of orders under its engineering delivery partner framework contract, total orders jumped by a quarter to £972m, excluding amendments to long-term partnering agreements with the Ministry of Defence.
Statutory operating profit only rose 2 per cent to £118m, held back by a £14m goodwill impairment on its advisory services and German aircraft operations. However, organic revenue growth of 10 per cent was driven by a double-digit increase in the larger Europe Middle East and Australasia services division.
The £90m spent on the Manufacturing Techniques and Newman & Spurr Consultancy acquisitions meant net cash almost halved to £85m, offsetting strong free cashflow generation. As previously announced, a decision on the final dividend has been deferred.
House broker Numis expects adjusted pre-tax profit of £125m and EPS of 18.8p in 2021, down from £132m and 20p in 2020.
QINETIQ (QQ.) | ||||
ORD PRICE: | 309p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 1.8bn | |
TOUCH: | 309-310p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 394p | LOW: 233p |
DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.7% | PE RATIO: | 17 | |
NET ASSET VALUE: | 156p* | NET DEBT: | £84.7m** |
Year to 31 Mar | Turnover (£bn) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
2016 | 0.76 | 90.2 | 16.8 | 5.7 |
2017 | 0.78 | 132 | 21.5 | 6.0 |
2018 | 0.83 | 145 | 24.4 | 6.3 |
2019 (restated) | 0.91 | 123 | 20.1 | 6.6 |
2020 | 1.07 | 123 | 18.7 | 2.2 |
% change | +18 | - | -7 | -67 |
Ex-div: | na | |||
Payment: | na | |||
*Includes £320m in intangible assets or 56p a share **Includes £27.9m in lease liabilities |