Babcock down despite big profits growth

Babcock, the engineering services company has seen a slight drop in its share price today following the release of its results for the six months to the end of September.

Revenues were up 30% on the same period of 2010 at £1,588m and profit before tax was up 46% at £132.8m. Basic earnings per share hit 29.79p, up 21% and net debt was reduced to £678.8m.

A crucial metric for investors will be that the order book was maintained at £12bn, giving Babcock security over future revenues.

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It also announced contract wins with Lafarge UK, the MOD and several civil nuclear decommissioning projects.

Commenting on the results the group's chief executive Peter Rogers said: "Our expanding bid pipeline demonstrates that existing and prospective customers are increasingly aware of our ability to meet their needs... We have excellent business visibility into next year and expect to continue to make good progress."

The slight dip in the share price today (down less than half a percent) should be seen in the context of a 21% increase over the year.

BS