Babcock FY profit up 26%, divi hiked 25%

12th May 2009 07:35

Engineering support services company Babcock International reported forecast busting full year profit, upped its dividend and sees good growth prospects."We have excellent visibility from our growing order book which now stands at an all time high of £5.7bn," said chief executive Peter Rogers in a statement."The bid pipeline is at its best for some time and increased pressure for efficiency in public spending will bring further opportunities."The group's Marine and Nuclear businesses did particularly well and will be major engines of further growth, he added.Underlying pre-tax profit rose to £120.9m for year ended 31 March 2009 from £95.5m before. Analysts had pencilled in pre-tax profit of around £119m. Revenue increased to £1.9bn from £1.6bn."We look forward to another year of excellent progress for Babcock." The full year dividend has been increased by 25% to 14.40p.