BAE Systems – Continues To Soar To New Heights

• First-half sales of £12.0bn, up 11% ignoring exchange rate impacts
• Underlying operating profit rose 10% to 1.3bn
• Interim dividend raised 11% to 11.5p

BAE Systems’ Earnings

“A strong set of first-half results have shown that BAE Systems plc (LON:BA) occupies a key space in the defence market. And with some of its biggest buyers, the UK, US and Europe, all expected to continue raising defence budgets over the coming years, the sky really is the limit for this jet-maker.

With orders almost double the group’s sales in the first half, the group’s order book’s now sitting at an incredible £66.2bn. Given the increased defence spending environment, that figure’s expected to continue ballooning.

Free cash flow’s also increased by around £1bn in the past year, meaning there’s plenty of room to return cash to shareholders via increased dividends and a fresh new buyback programme. All of this has led BAE to bump up its full-year guidance for all key metrics, putting serious weight behind the expectation that stellar progress will continue.”

Article by Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown