Ultra Electronics, the defence and security company, saw its order book jump 22% to £1.3bn in 2021 as a result of their One Ultra strategy to provide ‘interoperable solutions’ with an array of products including Sonobuoy and ORION radio.
Existing clients continued strong momentum in orders with the US Marines, US Army and US Navy committing $140m for ORION radio and $118m orders for US Sonobuoy under the ERAPSCO 5-year IDIQ contract.
The company also saw orders for the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), which placed a £31m order for Sonobuoy and received an award of $23m for the MK54 lightweight torpedo array kits.
Amongst their awards, Ultra Electronics won a cyber award worth £65m for the UK MoD and a production award of $30m for the Next Generation Surface Search Radar programme.
Among their new clientele, the company received a £60m order for Integrated Anti-Submarine Warfare Defence Systems by the Indian Navy, a $14m contract with Tunisia and Romania to provide Integrated Command and Control systems and a $24m contract for Forensic Technology with Brazil.
Revenues increased by 4.2% to £850.7m on an organic revenue basis, with strong revenue growth of 6.3% and 5.5% in the Maritime segment and Intelligence & Communications segment.
Profit before tax plummeted 20.3% from £103.7m in 2020 to £82.7m as the sterling strengthened against the US dollar.
Offer from Advent Cobham Acquistions
In 2021, Ultra received an unexpected offer from Cobham Ultra Acquisitions Limited.
The acquisition was accepted by 99.86% of Ultra’s voting shareholders in October 2021. Except for HM Government’s, all the clearances have now been obtained.
Ultra and Cobham have been collaborating with the HM Government, including the Ministry of Defence, to guarantee that the UK’s national interests are taken into consideration as part of the proposed arrangement.
The acquisition will no longer be finalized in Q1 2022, as per the Board. Ultra’s Board is focused on working with Advent and Cobham and other parties involved to ensure that the acquisition is successful.
Ultra Electronics decreased dividends by 71.5% to 16.2p as opposed to 56.9p in 2020 due to agreements made with the Advent Cobham acquisition.
Simon Pryce, Chief Executive Officer, Ultra Electronics said, “2021 was another year of strategic, operational and financial progress for Ultra and was our fourth year of robust organic revenue growth.”
“This was achieved despite pandemic driven operational and supply challenges and significant translational currency headwinds.”
“Effective execution of our ONE Ultra strategy is creating new opportunities, and we enter 2022 with another record £1.3bn order book. Our continuous improvement focus is uncovering additional improvement opportunities. “
“The Board remains committed to working with Advent/Cobham and HM Government to deliver a successful closing of the acquisition.”