BAE swings to loss, ups divi

30th Jul 2009 07:02

BAE Systems has swung to a half-year loss, but upped its dividend and said it expects good growth for the full year.The defence firm also announced that its pension fund deficit grew by £900m due to a re-evaluation of its assets. Overall, the group made a loss of £70m in the six month ended 30 June compared with a profit of £599m last time. Sales increased by 28% to £9.91bn, though the figure includes sales from the MTC, Tenix Defence and Detica businesses acquired during the prior year.The interim dividend increased by 10.3% to 6.4p per share."The group continues to expect good growth for 2009 as a whole, despite a lower level of land vehicle sales," it said. "Compared to 2008, the group's trading results are expected to benefit from any continued weakness of sterling against the US dollar. We anticipate a stronger operating cash inflow in the second half year."