The results announced yesterday included interims from Babcock International and Vodafone, and final results from Associated British Foods.
Babcock’s pre-tax profits grew by 96% to £80m, and 15% when the effect of the acquisition of VT Group is stripped out. The international business grew rapidly as a result of strong demand for mining equipment. The marine division also did well. It helps to design and build Britain’s new Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers. Babcock’s total order book is £12bn, the same as last year.
Vodafone has raised its outlook for full-year operating profit, despite a £450m writedown on its Greek operations and poor results in Spain. Performance was better than expected in the European Union, when the southern European countries are excluded; and the performance was good in the US and India. Rollout of next generation LTE superfast mobile services in Germany was proceeding well, and the move to data services rather than voice calls will help improve prices. The dividend is 7.5%.
Associated British Foods, which makes Ryvita, produces sugar, and owns Primarck stores, announced annual results better than expected. Key input prices, cotton and wheat, have come down. The cotton price has halved from its peak. On the other hand, the price of sugar has continued to go up.
Risk warnings
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