Ultra Electronics confident about 2011

28th Feb 2011 07:07

Decent revenue growth from Ultra Electronics sparked a 15% increase in underlying profit at the defence electronics supplier last year.Profit before tax and exceptional items rose to £102.7m in 2010 from £89.5m the year before on revenue up 9% to £710m. Organic growth at constant currencies was 6%. Including everything profit fell 15% to £91.3m, mostly due to a £55.6m gain on derivatives in 2009 compared with just £8.9m this time.Ultra's order book had risen 7% to £817.9m by the end of 2010, though previously flagged delays in the award of contracts in both the UK and US has impacted the closing order book value. "With its broad portfolio of offerings, Ultra has positioned itself within its markets on long-term programmes and in areas of preferential customer spend," said chief executive Douglas Caster who becomes chairman this year. Chief operating officer Rakesh Sharma takes over."Its strategies have enabled Ultra to create a resilient business model that has maintained growth momentum and that underpins continued progress in 2011," Carter added. An 11% increase in the final dividend to 24p a share takes the total for the year to 34.6p.