Last updated at 11:04, Thursday, 02 August 2012

BARROW-BUILT submarines have been hailed as a key part of BAE Systems' buoyant financial position after the first six months of the year.

The company has reported sales of £8,334 million and an order backlog topping £40 billion as of June 30, according to its half-year report.

The report highlights the importance of securing the £328 million contract to design the Royal Navy's next generation of submarines to replace the Vanguard class.

It is estimated the deal, which already sees about 1000 skilled workers employed in Barrow, will create a further 280 jobs this year.

Chief executive Ian King said: "BAE Systems is operating in a challenging environment but taking the actions necessary to reduce cost, protect and grow margins and generate good cash flow.

"The group continues to demonstrate sustained earnings performance and is successfully winning new business, generating order intake that will underpin future sales.

"The group's order backlog grew for the first time since 2009 to £40 billion."

John Hudson, the managing director of maritime-submarines, said: "We have witnessed significant progress across our core submarine programmes, with major development on both the Astute class and Successor.

"The signing of the Successor programme's assessment phase is gaining momentum, with the focus on developing the design for the new submarine, while in parallel HMS Astute is continuing to prove herself as a highly capable platform, as evidence during successful trials in America."

GROUP HIGHLIGHTS

• Headline sales £8,334m
• Underlying EBITA £939m
• Underlying earnings per share 18.8p
• Operating cash flow £742m
• Interim dividend per share 7.8p
• Order backlog grew to £40bn
• Order intake in markets outside the US and UK totalled £4.3bn (compared to £4.8bn for whole of 2011)

BAE SYSTEMS MARITIME – SUBMARINES HIGHLIGHTS

• BAE Systems Maritime – Submarines, employing approximately 5,000 people, reports the following highlights for the period:
• • Award of a £328m contract for the design of the Royal Navy’s next generation ofsubmarines – a replacement for the Vanguard class, which will carry the UK’s nuclear deterrent. This programme currently supports approximately 1,000 skilled employees, and there are plans to grow this figure by a further 280 in 2012.
• • HMS Astute, the first of the new Astute class attack submarines, successfully fired its Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles during trials off the coast of America. She also fired six Spearfish torpedoes, including the first salvo by a British submarine for 15 years.

First published at 09:34, Thursday, 02 August 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk