Qinetiq on track after strong first quarter

QinetiQ Group said it had made a positive start to the current year on Thursday, leaving it on track to meet expectations.

Updating on first-quarter trading, the defence and security specialist said order intake had been “strong” and it was “pleased” with its revenue, profit and cash performance.

Visibility on revenue under contract for 2024 increased to £1.3bn, from £1.1bn in April, and it was consequently “confident” of meeting full-year expectations.

Steve Wadey, chief executive, said: “The global security situation continues to highlight the importance of defence and security, and we remain focused on our three home countries, who have share defence and security mission under the trilateral partnership Aukus [Australia, the UK and US].

“We continue to see a significant opportunity from the widening threat spectrum, with our six distinctive offerings well-aligned to areas of defence and security budgets where greatest priority and funding is being directed.”

Key business wins during the quarter included a $40m research and engineering contract award in the US, from the Prototypes and Experiments Director for the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.

QinetiQ also won a £38m contract extension with Defence Digital in the UK, and has a $86m backlog on its Joint Adversarial Training and Testing Services contract in Australia.