Babcock sees FY in line

10th Nov 2009 07:34

Engineering support services firm Babcock International posted a 30% increase in half year profit as good growth in Marine and Defence mitigated a decline in Rail, Engineering and Plant.The group, which maintains Britain's submarine fleet, said pre-tax profit rose to £66.1m in the six months ended 30 September 2009 from £50.9m the previous year while revenue slipped to £923.0m from £940.6m.The group said, "Excellent profit growth continues, record order book, robust market positions and strong cash flows support group prospects."Babcock has an order book of around £6bn with a bid pipeline of around £3.3bn."2009/10 continues to be another year of excellent progress and we remain confident that results for the full year will be in line with our expectations," it said in a company statement. The board has recommended an interim dividend of 4.80p, up from 4p last time.