Ultra Electronics still expects 'modest' progress this year, order book grows

FTSE 250 defence company Ultra Electronics reiterated on Friday that it expects to make "modest" progress in constant currency underlying revenue and operating profit this year, and that the cash performance will be more heavily weighted to the second half.

Ahead of its annual general meeting later in the day, Ultra said that conditions in its markets have remained as stated in the preliminary results last month.

Ultra said it has secured a higher volume of orders in the first quarter compared to recent years and this resulted in an improved order book of £933m at the end of March 2018 versus £914m at the start of the year, despite a foreign exchange headwind.

Ultra, which said earlier this month that the UK’s Serious Fraud Office had opened a criminal investigation into suspected corruption in the conduct of its business in Algeria, is due to announce its interim results on 6 August 2018.