QinetiQ Group plc Trading Update (3601V)
April 14 2021 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMQQ.
RNS Number : 3601V
QinetiQ Group plc
14 April 2021
News release
QinetiQ Group plc
Trading Update
14 April 2021 - QinetiQ Group plc ("QinetiQ" or "the Group")
today issues a trading update covering its fourth quarter to 31
March 2021.
Strong operational performance - upgrading full year
guidance
Through continued disciplined execution of our strategy the
Group has delivered strong performance through the fourth quarter.
As a consequence, today we announce that we expect our results for
the full year to 31 March 2021 to be above our previous guidance
and above market consensus expectations.
Full year order intake has been strong, and subject to audit, we
expect to deliver high teens percentage revenue growth, high single
digit percentage revenue growth on an organic basis. We expect the
full year underlying operating profit margin percentage to be
modestly ahead of that delivered in the first half, resulting in
underlying operating profit for the full year of at least GBP147m.
Operating cash flow has been good and we retain a strong balance
sheet with net cash at 31 March 2021 of at least GBP150m.
Our strong performance is underpinned by overachievement across
the EMEA Services portfolio offsetting the modest COVID-19 impacts
seen earlier in the year in Global Products, affecting the United
States and Target Systems. In addition, the three businesses sold
in the last year have generated a non-trading gain which will be
partly offset by a goodwill impairment in our German business due
to a more challenging business environment.
We retain our medium to long-term guidance: we are targeting
mid-single digit percentage compound annual organic revenue growth
over the next 5 years, with strategic acquisitions further
enhancing this growth. We are targeting operating profit margin of
12-13%, although in the short-term we continue to anticipate
margins being c.100bps lower, driven by increased investment on our
digital transformation programme and by the evolution of our
business mix. Capital expenditure is expected to be in the region
of GBP90m to GBP120m per annum for the next two years.
Steve Wadey, Group Chief Executive Officer said:
"I am extremely proud of how our people have continued to
deliver critical defence and security capabilities for our
customers around the world, despite significant challenges due to
COVID-19. We continued to adapt our ways of working, increased the
scale of our ambition and evolved our strategy to meet the changing
needs of our customers. As a result, we are now upgrading our full
year guidance, demonstrating the Group's continued strong
momentum."
Preliminary results
QinetiQ will announce its preliminary results on 20 May 2021. We
will be hosting a virtual results presentation, details of which
will be available on our website shortly at:
www.QinetiQ.com/investors .
About QinetiQ
QinetiQ (QQ.L) is a leading science and engineering company
operating primarily in the defence, security and critical
infrastructure markets. We work in partnership with our customers
to solve real world problems through innovative solutions
delivering operational and competitive advantage. Visit our website
www.QinetiQ.com . Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @QinetiQ. Visit
our blog www.QinetiQ-blogs.com .
Recording and transcript of our 4 March 2021 investor seminar:
Renewed ambition to accelerate sustainable growth, which covered
our growth strategy in the US, our digital T&E investment and
our approach to ESG, can be found here:
https://www.qinetiq.com/en/investors/investor-seminars/renewed-ambition-to-accelerate-sustainable-growth
Inside information
This announcement contains inside information and the person
responsible for making this announcement is Jon Messent, Company
Secretary.
For further information please contact :
John Haworth, Group Head of Investor Relations: +44 (0) 7920 545841
Chris Barrie, Citigate Dewe Rogerson (Media enquiries): +44 (0) 7968 727289
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