26 Feb 13. GKN warns of sluggish European car demand. GKN’s shares see-sawed on Tuesday, as concerns over the engineering group’s cautious outlook for 2013 were offset by increases its full-year revenues and pre-tax profit. The FTSE 100 company – one of the world’s biggest makers of driveline systems, an equipment that controls vehicle steering – warned that sluggish European demand for new cars, which led to a profit warning last year, was likely to continue. European car sales fell to a 17-year low in 2012, and are expected to contract a further 1.7 per cent this year, according to industry forecasts. As a result, GKN said it would take £21m of restructuring charges at its driveline and powder metallurgy divisions in the first quarter of 2013. GKN, which employs 44,000 people across 35 countries, will also cut 200 jobs in Japan and Germany as part of the process. GKN reported that total 2012 revenues had risen from £5.7bn a year previously to £6.5bn, helping pre-tax profit to increase from £351m to £588m. Part of this increase was attributed to yearly accounting changes for currency hedging contracts but, on an underlying basis, pre-tax profit rose from £417m to £497m. GKN’s aerospace unit also reported strong sales growth – up from £1.5bn to £1.8bn – as strong growth in civil programmes offset reduced military sales. (Source: FT.com)
21 Feb 13. BAE Systems: Preliminary Results. BAE Systems announced (21 Feb 13) preliminary results for 2012. Sales amounted to £17,834m (£19,154m in 2011), with profit before taxation of £1,411m (£1,493m). The order book at year’s end was valued at £42,400m (£39,100m). (Order intake outside the US and the UK was £11,200m, compared with £4,800m in 2011.)
Comment: Discussions between BAE Systems and EADS were held from June to October 2012 and the Company records that: “The merger would have been an exciting development, but no agreement acceptable to all parties could be reached.” Watch this space! (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 13/09, 25 Feb 13)
BATTLESPACE Comment: Until EADS starts to pay a Dividend there is going to be a strong resistance from the City and Investec in particular for this merger, at least until BP ramps up its Dividend, post settlement of the Gulf spill.
28 Feb 13. Two public relations professionals with an impressive track record of working on some of the UK’s biggest aerospace and defence projects have joined forces to bring their unique set of skills to companies operating in the Aerospace, Defence and Security (ADS) sectors. Chris Trippick, former VP Communications and Public Affairs for, Lockheed Martin UK, and agency specialist, Celia Turner, have launched TurnerTrippick PR and have already attracted a diverse portfolio of clients. Turner and Trippick – who operate from London and Hampshire – have more than 30 years of combined experience working in the ADS and adjacent industry sectors. Between them they have worked on a range of high profile projects including ASTOR, the Royal Navy’s Merlin Helicopter, the new F-35 Joint Combat Aircraft, the Warrior Armoured Fighting Vehicle, the Military Flying Training System, Future Strategic Tanker Service and Light Protected Patrol Vehicle.
26 Feb 13. DigitalGlobe, Inc. (NYSE:DGI)reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2012. Fourth quarter 2012 revenue was $125.4m, a 28% increase compared with the same period last year. Net income for the fourth quarter was $17.1m, or $0.36 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $27.0m or $(0.58) per diluted share in fourth quarter 2011. Fourth quarter 2012 EBITDA was $57.6m, driving an EBITDA margin of 45.9%. Fourth quarter 2012 EBITDA margin expanded year-over-year despite incurring $10.2 m in one-time expenses related to the combination with GeoEye, which negatively impacted fourth quarter 2012 EBITDA margin by approximately 810 basis points. Full year 2012 revenue was $421.4m, a 24% increase compared with 2011. The comp