Babcock wins £485m in new contracts

Babcock International has announced its success in netting some £485m in new defence and marine contracts in its latest trading statement.

The engineering support services firm said it had won a £350m overhaul and refuel contract for submarine HMS Vengeance and and a £135m service and replacement contract for some 14,000 Ministry of Defence vehicles as part of Project Phoenix.

Babcock said its order book had now moved up to around £12.5bn after remaining constant at the £12bn mark for some 18 months.

The company said it was benefiting from customers’ on-going budgetary constraints as they “increasingly have looked to outsource their support requirements to achieve cost-savings and improved availability or efficiency”.

Babcock said its bid pipeline had increased from £10bn at January 31 to £12bn now, including the Dounreay Parent Body Organisation contract, which will not become operational until early April.

The company said it would announce full year results on 15 May.