BABCOCK International has increased its profits by more than 50 per cent, the company announced yesterday.
The Rosyth dockyard owner was one of two defence and engineering groups which posted higher annual earnings.
Babcock International, which is upgrading Rosyth in Fife, recorded profits up 53 per cent to £95.5 million in the year to 31 March.
T
he VT Group, which will work with Babcock to build two new warships for the Ministry of Defence, posted underlying earnings of £89.1m for the same period, 20 per cent up on the previous year.
Both firms said they were confident the government would press ahead with the project to build the two carriers – the largest ever built in the UK – although the final contracts have yet to be placed.
Babcock's results were buoyed by its acquisition of Plymouth's Devonport dockyard last year, making it the UK's largest naval maintenance firm.
It also runs the Faslane submarine base on the Clyde, while its defence business is based in Derby.
The firm has also increased its technical know-how in the civil nuclear market after buying International Nuclear Solutions.
Together, the two deals boosted revenues and lifted orders for the company to £3 billion.
Babcock's rail business also recovered from a difficult first half after a management overhaul and returned to profit after being chosen as one of Network Rail's four specialist renewals contractors last September.
VT, meanwhile, boosted its orders by almost a third to £4.9bn as it boasted "excellent progress" in the year.
VT has also won work on major long-term defence programmes such as the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft scheme, which will provide aircraft and support needed by the RAF to fly air-to-air refuelling and transport missions worldwide.
The full article contains 302 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
