20 Nov 14. Babcock profits rise as outsourcer fortifies position in defence. Babcock International has reinforced its position at the heart of Britain’s defence establishment with a series of contract wins including a groundbreaking privatisation that will see it take over the maintenance of UK military equipment. Babcock on Thursday reported a 29 per cent jump in half-year profits, partly due to acquisitions, one day after the UK Ministry of Defence named the outsourcing company as preferred bidder to acquire the Defence Support Group. DSG employs more than 2,800 engineers to service equipment including tanks. Babcock has avoided the sort of reputational damage that has affected other outsourcers such as Serco and G4S because it concentrates on high-margin, more technical work, much of it for the MoD, its biggest customer. The company’s shares rose 6 per cent to £11.86 on Thursday, and Peter Rogers, chief executive of Babcock for the past 11 years, said: “There are two kinds of outsourcing – the kind the public cares about and the outsourcing they don’t know about. The public don’t care who maintains naval vessels – it’s not contentious. They do care who employs the nurses or doctors.” However, not all of Babcock’s focus is without controversy. Employees at DSG went on strike on Monday for four days after being offered a 1 per cent pay rise, arguing they should receive a share of the group’s profits. The MoD is widely considered to be at the forefront of the UK government’s plans to use the private sector in the delivery of public services. It has faced the most severe budget cuts of any government department, with further reductions expected in the next parliament. According to the National Audit Office, the drive for cost savings meant the department spent almost £20bn on outsourced companies in 2012-13, of which nearly a third went to Serco. Mr Rogers said there was more scope for MoD outsourcing, including work at the Royal Air Force. Babcock is competing to win a £3bn, 13-year contract to deliver supplies such as bandages, food and medical equipment to forces in the UK and overseas. The highlight of Babcock’s interim results period was its £920m purchase of Avincis, one of the world’s largest providers of helicopters for search and rescue missions from Investindustrial and KKR, the private equity groups. The Avincis purchase required a £1.1bn rights issue at a significant discount. (Source: FT.com)
16 Nov 14. The chief financial officer of United Technologies Corp. says the aerospace giant is positioning itself for another large acquisition. CFO Greg Hayes said at an analysts’ conference Thursday that the Hartford, Connecticut, manufacturer of jet engines, elevators and helicopters is spending less than $1bn in small acquisitions this year. He says the strategy is to “keep our powder dry” as the conglomerate seeks a large purchase. It’s also paid down through the end of 2014 $10bn of $18bn in debt for flexibility “to go off and do a bigger deal again.” Hayes said United Technologies’ $18.4bn purchase of aerospace components manufacturer Goodrich Corp. in 2012 is paying off, with 8 percent organic growth in the commercial aerospace business. Share buybacks next year will be close to $2bn, up from $1.5bn in 2014. (Source: Open Source Information Report/AP)
18 Nov 14. Armor Designs, Inc. (ADID.L) (“Armor” or the “Company”), a leading designer, integrator and manufacturer of armor solutions for military, government and commercial use, provided an update on the recent hearing at the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (the “Court”) held on Friday, November 7, 2014. The board of directors of the Company is pleased to report that the Court rebuffed the action of written consent by the Company’s former Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, James St. Ville (“St. Ville”), acting through his wholly-owned company, Hawthorne & York International Ltd (“HYI”), to replace the incumbent board of directors. Unde