Chemring FY profit seen a touch below consensus; US sensors business up for sale

12th Nov 2026 11:44

(Sharecast News) - Chemring announced on Thursday that it was putting its US sensors business, CSES, up for sale, as it said full-year underlying operating profit was set to be just a touch below consensus expectations.

In an update for the year to the end of October, the defence technology firm said full-year underlying operating profit was expected to be around £79m. This compares to consensus expectations of around £80m.

The company hailed a record order book of £1.4bn at the end of October, versus £1.3bn a year earlier, amid strong demand across its core markets. Chemring also said FY26 underlying earnings per share are expected to benefit from modestly lower interest costs than previously expected.

The Countermeasures & Energetics segment performed strongly, it said. Within Sensors & Information, Roke's order intake reached record levels during the year, demonstrating a strong recovery and providing improved visibility over FY27 earnings.

"However, Roke's FY26 performance was below expectations due to delays in defence contract awards, principally from the UK Ministry of Defence (UK MOD) and sales of electronic warfare systems to international customers," the company said. "These delayed defence programmes remain active opportunities, with customer engagement ongoing."

Chemring also reaffirmed its expectations of "material" earnings growth in FY27.

The company announced on Thursday that it has decided to put its US sensors business up for sale.

"The board has concluded that CSES would have greater opportunities to develop as part of a broader portfolio of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) detection capabilities, which the group does not intend to build, and that it would therefore be better positioned under alternative ownership," it said.

Chemring said the sale will allow management to continue to focus on Countermeasures & Energetics and on Roke.

Chief executive Michael Ord said: "Our record order book and strategic contract wins demonstrate the strength of our business and the successful execution of our strategy. We delivered a solid performance in FY26 despite well-documented headwinds in parts of the UK market and we remain confident in delivering strong year-on-year growth in FY27, supported by our deliverable order book and a more balanced H1/H2 weighting. Our longer-term prospects remain compelling."

At 1140 GMT, the shares were down 0.6% at 523p.

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