Britain’s QinetiQ recently posted strong first-half results led by the company’s QinetiQ North America (QNA) division, which saw its revenues soar due to acquisitions and strong organic growth.
Sales increased 19 percent to $1.3 billion for the six months ending Sept. 30 from $1.1 billion in the same period a year ago, with organic growth topping 8 percent. Net income rose 14 percent to $45.9 million from $40.3 million a year ago. Backlog stood at $1.9 billion versus $1.5 billion a year ago.
At QNA, which is where QinetiQ has focused its acquisitions the past few years, sales increased 55 percent to $532.9 million in the six-month period from $344.3 million a year ago. Organic growth was 24 percent, driven by higher sales of Talon robots and related spares, higher demand for logistics work and software engineering services for the U.S. Army, and to a lesser extent information technology services, in particular to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Orders at QNA were $656.3 million in the six-month period versus $451.7 million a year ago. Backlog in the division stood at $620 million versus $355.3 million a year ago.
“The North American defense and security market continues to provide the greatest opportunity for expansion within the Group and in the period this sector has driven strong order and turnover growth,” Graham Love, QinetiQ’s CEO, said in a statement. “With the establishment of the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Australasia) sector this year we are planning to continue to focus on growth opportunities in the U.K., supplemented by replicating selected service offerings from our core U.K. market into appropriate other defence markets globally.”
QinetiQ said that its pipeline of opportunities for acquisitions in North America remains “healthy” although companies are pricing themselves high.