BAE sees gains in defense business
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LONDON, England (Reuters) -- BAE Systems posted a 2.2 percent fall in annual operating profit on Thursday, in line with market expectations, and said the performance of its defense businesses would improve slightly this year.
"Overall, underlying performance of the company's defense businesses in 2004 is expected to be slightly ahead of 2003,'' Europe's biggest military contractor said in a statement. Operating profit before goodwill amortization and exceptional items was £980 million ($1.9 billion) in 2003.
Underlying earnings per share of 16.6 pence came in at the top end of analyst forecasts.
BAE posted a better-than-expected 3.5 percent rise in sales to £12.57 billion and net debt stood at £870 million at December 31, down 33 percent and easily beating analysts' forecast range of £1.5 billion to £1.716 billion.
The price is still well below the level in August 2002, a month before it stunned investors with losses in its shipbuilding yards and confused guidance that foreshadowed cost overruns on the Astute submarine and Nimrod aircraft contracts for Britain.
The company has proposed a final dividend of 5.5 pence, keeping the total dividend unchanged at 9.2 pence. Analysts had expected the company to keep the annual dividend steady.
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