Babcock Full-Year Profit Surges, Raises Dividend

reported a gain in its full-year profit and increased its dividend by 10.4 percent. The company's pretax profit for the year surged 43 percent to GBP313.1 million ($492.4 million), compared to GBP218.8 million in the year-ago period. Underlying profit before tax climbed to 417.7 million pounds from 316.1 million pounds. Babcock's earnings from continuing operations rose to 52.6 pence per share, versus 43.9 pence per share in the year-ago period. Its revenue surged 20 percent to GBP4 billion, while underlying revenue jumped 27 percent to 4.50 billion pounds. Marine and Technology revenue rose 13 percent to 1.563 billion pounds, while revenue from Defence and Security dropped 5 percent to 812.8 million pounds. The company's revenue at Support Services division jumped 27 percent to 1.316 billion pounds. The company's board declared a final dividend of 18.1 pence. Peter Rogers, CEO said, "Babcock performed strongly last year, both organically and through acquisitions. We achieved double digit organic growth in revenue and operating profit driven by major contract wins and by expanding the size and scope of existing contracts."