Nuclear submarines, jet fighters and electric plane batteries send BAE Systems orders to a record over £66 billion
Defence multinational BAE Systems has reported a record order backlog, sending its half-year profit and dividend for shareholders up by over 10% each.
Its chief executive, Charles Woodburn, called it “an increasingly uncertain world”, and said the FTSE 100 company’s “global footprint” and “leading technologies” meant it could “effectively support the national security requirements and multi-domain ambitions of our government customers.”
Order intake in the six months to the end of June hit £21.1 billion, taking the backlog to £66.2 billion. Sales in the period were up 11% to £12 billion and underlying earnings were £1.3 billion, up 10%.
BAE will help Australia acquire its first nuclear-powered submarines as part of the new “Aukus” defence pact between the Antipodean nation, the UK and the US. It also received orders for UK’s next generation of fighter jets an is working on the battery system for an electric plane, the Heary ES-30.
It lifted its dividend by 11% to 11.5p and announced plans to return a further £1.5 billion to investors via a share buyback.
Ryanair flies record 18.7 million passengers in July
Ryanair flew 18.7 million passengers in July, shattering previous records, as Brits sought to escape the rain atr home despite dangerous heat in much of Europe.
The total was up 11% from July 2022 and marked the first time the Irish carrier has flown 18 million passengers in a month. Its flights remained 96% full.
Ryanair operated 102,000 flights in the month, while 800 were cancelled, mostly because of strikes.
Budget airline Ryanair cut its passenger growth forecast for the full year to 183.5 million (PA)
/ PA WireFellow low-cost airline Wizz Air’s passenger numbers also increased, to just over 6 million, 20% more than in July 2022. Its CO2 emissions per passenger were down for the month.
Brent Crude rally continues, highest in three months
The rise in oil prices continued today after Brent Crude traded above $85 a barrel at its highest level in more than three months.
The latest increase came after figures showed a bigger-than-expected decline in US crude inventories. Recent gains for the oil benchmark have followed a voluntary production cut by Saudi Arabia and signs of improving global demand.
Brent has risen for five weeks in a row, registering its strongest month in over a year during July following a jump in price of 14%. It fell as far as $70 a barrel in June, from near to $100 last August.
US credit rating downgrade hits shares
Asia markets have fallen and benchmarks in London and New York are facing weaker sessions after Fitch downgraded its US credit rating.
The agency said its move from the top-notch AAA to AA+ reflected the expected fiscal deterioration over the next three years, as well as a high and growing general government debt burden and the “erosion of governance”.
Last night’s downgrade, which was heavily criticised by White House officials, follows a similar move by S&P during 2011’s debt ceiling impasse.
Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid said: “S&P being the first to downgrade 12 years ago was far bigger news and has allowed investors to adjust for the most important bond market in the world not being a pure AAA anymore, but it’s still a big decision.”
Futures markets are showing the S&P 500 index down by 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite off 0.6%, while CMC Markets expects the FTSE 100 index to open 30 points lower at 7636.
In Asia, markets have fallen sharply with Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 and Hang Seng in Hong Kong both down by more than 2%.
Recap: Yesterday’s top stories
Good morning. Here’s a summary of our top stories from yesterday: