QinetiQ raises interim profit 14%, agrees £292m sale of US business

QinetiQ Group plc (LON:QQ) has announced its FY27 Half Year Results.

Steve Wadey, Group Chief Executive Officer, said: “We have delivered solid first-half results, improving profitability through execution and efficiency. The agreed US business sale sharpens QinetiQ’s focus on the areas where we see the strongest opportunities for growth. Our engineering, test and mission support capabilities put us at the heart of growing customer demand for warfighting readiness. We see opportunities to expand roles and leverage into European NATO and key allies. With full-year guidance confirmed, our priorities remain clear: deliver for customers, invest for sustainable growth and return capital to shareholders.”

Improved profitability and strong shareholder returns

• Order intake¹ increased 9% and revenue 3%, reflecting higher demand to enable our customers warfighting-readiness requirements. Underlying operating profit increased 14% to £110m, driven by revenue growth and disciplined execution. Underlying operating profit margin was 11.9%, 120 basis points higher, with growth investment weighted towards the second half
• Statutory results include a £175m non-cash charge relating to the impairment of the US business
• Underlying EPS grew 18% to 16.8p and ROCE* was up to 41%. Statutory EPS was (21.6p)
• Net debt increased on working capital, tax timing and higher capex. Leverage was within target range at 0.8x
• Strong shareholder returns: a 33% higher interim dividend and on track to buyback £100m of shares in FY27

A stronger focused company built for sustainable growth

• As announced today we have concluded our US business review and agreed a $292m sale to Serco plc. The majority of proceeds will be returned to shareholders through an additional £100m pa buyback over two years
• Group revenue ex. US grew c. 5% despite continued near-term customer budgetary pressures
• Growing UK and allied readiness requirements are supporting increased activity across our capabilities
• Order backlog and long-term programmes provide good visibility of future revenue growth, underpinned by investment in our people, technology and infrastructure

Unchanged FY27 outlook (current reporting basis)

• Revenue growth 3-5% and operating margin 11.0-11.5%
• EPS growth 8-10% with cash conversion >90%
• >£550m of free cash flow targeted over FY27-29

Analyst presentation

A live webcast of the analyst presentation including Q&A will be held today at 9:30am GMT for investors and analysts and will be available via our website at https://www.qinetiq.com or on https://brrmedia.news/QQ_HY27. This will be available for playback after the event. 

Dividend declaration

The company announces an interim dividend of 4.0p (H1 FY26: 3.0p) per share for the half year ended 30 September 2026. The interim dividend will be paid on Friday 5 February 2027 to shareholders on the register on Friday 8 January 2027. The interim dividend represents a 33% increase on the prior half year dividend, underlining confidence in the Group’s medium-term prospects and the new dividend policy announced on 21 May 2026. The full year proposed dividend will be announced with our full year preliminary results in May 2027.

The dividend is conditional upon the Directors not having determined (at their discretion) to cancel the dividend at any point prior to its payment.

This announcement contains regulated information as per Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rule (DTR) 6.3.

Share buyback programme

During the period the company acquired shares with an aggregate purchase price of £47.6 million. QinetiQ will complete the remaining c.£50 million of the current buyback commitment by the end of the FY27 financial year and then commence the additional £200 million announced on 21 May 2026.