Calm amid the stormThales issues strong results for 2008
Company showing revenues of €12.7 billion (£11.3 billion), an order intake of €14.3 billion, and projected growth of between 3 and five percent in 2009
Defense and security companies continue to show good financial results despite the global economic slowdown. Thales yesterday issued strong results for 2008, showing revenues of €12.7 billion (£11.3 billion), an order intake of €14.3 billion, and projected growth of between 3 and five percent in 2009.
In Britain, Thales U.K. has been described as having an exceptional year, with order intake from U.K. and export customers accounting for more than £2.4 billion. Contract highlights for Thales U.K. include the £425 million Aircraft Carrier program and the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft program, worth £285 million.
Additional order intake associated with Piccadilly Line upgrade and contract changes on the Jubilee and Northern lines, the Air Defense Availability Project, and work on the Manchester Metrolink, contributed £532 million to Thales U.K.’s orders.
These and other notable achievements — including an agreement to supply in-flight entertainment systems for installation onboard British Airways’s new delivery and next-generation aircraft — strengthened Thales U.K.’s order backlog to more than £4 billion.
“In an environment marked by a combination of major challenges, Thales has confirmed its solid performance in 2008, with revenues increasing by 8 percent on an organic basis, an order book worth almost two years of revenues and a consolidated profitability,” said Denis Ranque, Thales’s chairman and CEO.
In May, Thales’s board of directors will propose that the general meeting of shareholders approve a dividend of €1.05 per share, an increase of 5 percent.