Pre Close Trading Update
QinetiQ Group plc ('QinetiQ') today issues a trading update prior to holding an investor day in Farnborough, UK on 26 September and entering its closed period on 30 September 2012.
Business Update
The Group's performance during the first half of the financial year has been stronger than originally expected.
During the period Global Products delivered the majority of two key orders for the Q-NetTM vehicle survivability product, earlier than originally planned. This, together with a higher level of spares sales, more than compensated for lower sales in other major products.
UK Services continued to perform well, benefiting from a more competitive cost base and better project execution, coupled with a higher level of utilisation in certain areas to meet short term demand. This was partially offset by the performance of US Services, which reflected the considerable uncertainties in the federal services market and ongoing delays in contract awards. A large number of submitted bids remain unresolved, and some of these are unlikely to be decided until the issue of sequestration is addressed.
Trading Environment and outlook
The degree of political and economic uncertainty in both our major markets means that forward visibility for the next six months is much lower than usual, particularly in the US. However, the strong performance in the first half gives the Board confidence that the Group should at least meet its expectations for the current year, absent any material change in customer requirements. The Board's view of the outlook beyond the current year remains unchanged.
