Qinetiq underlying earnings jump on strong orders; Sells US business

12th Nov 2026 07:37

(Sharecast News) - UK defence firm Qinetiq posted a rise in underling half-year earnings driven by a higher order book and also announced the sale of its US business to Serco for $292m, sensing shares in the firm almost 5% higher on Thursday.

Underlying operating profit rose 14% to £110m while order intake rose 9% to £771m "reflecting higher demand to enable our customers warfighting-readiness requirements", Qinetiq said.

"UK Defence remains well positioned for growth, underpinned by increasing defence spending, a sustained focus on readiness and accelerating demand for the testing, integration and assurance of new technologies."

Management said the timing of customer orders weighed on first-half order intake but added that strong revenue visibility from the existing backlog and solid programme execution underpin confidence in full-year expectations.

It added that following completion of the US sale, the board expected to return a further £200m of the proceeds to shareholders by increasing the FY28 and FY29 buybacks by £100 million per year.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com