Ultra Electronics remains confident despite US order delays

Ultra Electronics, the technology focused defence and security products group, said US orders continued to be held back by the delayed government budget but that its full year expectations remained unchanged.

Trading in the six months ending 30 June was said to be in line with management expectations, with the 2017 financial year still expected to be more heavily weighted to the second half than normal due to the US budget.

The US budget was approved in early May, meaning US orders were deferred to the end of the first half and pushed into the second half of this year.

Despite this hold-up, Ultra said there had been "positive momentum in the order intake" and that its book-to-bill ratio -- new orders versus completed sales -- reached 1.1 times at the end of May 2017.

"The board remains confident of making further progress in 2017; our expectations for the full year remain unchanged," the FTSE 250 company said, noting that full year cash conversion remained in-line with previous guidance.

In March, CEO Rakesh Sharma relayed the optimism about the defence market, saying internal analysis "suggests a return to growth in the global defence sector, fuelled by expected higher defence spending under the new US administration and increasing global tensions".