Qinetiq Group PLC on Tuesday said its chief financial officer has departed immediately, but the defence and security technology firm reassured investors that its recent business results are in line with market expectations.
Qinetiq shares were down 5.5% to 338.20 pence early Tuesday in London.
The Farnborough, Hampshire-based company said Carol Borg will step down as CFO on Tuesday, saying this was agreed between Borg and the board but giving no reason. Borg will be available to the company until the end of July, it said.
Qinetiq said it has hired Martin Cooper to replace Borg. Cooper joins from defence peer BAE Systems PLC, where he was investor relations director after holding divisional finance roles.
Prior to Cooper’s arrival, Financial Controller Heather Cashin has been appointed interim CFO, while David Smith, a former CFO of Qinetiq, has been contracted to provide advice and support.
Qinetiq also said it has hired Iain Stevenson to take on the newly created role of chief operating officer and has promoted Will Blamey to chief executive for UK Defence. Both will report to Qinetiq CEO Steve Wadey.
Stevenson joins from AWE, the company that makes and maintains the nuclear warheads for the UK’s Trident missiles, where he is deputy chief executive. Blamey has been with Qinetiq since 2018, working on the delivery of major programmes.
Qinetiq said its results for the financial year that ended March 31 will be in line with current market expectations. It placed these at £211 million operating profit on £1.88 billion in revenue. In financial 2023, Qinetiq reported operating profit of £172.8 million on revenue of £1.58 billion.
The company said the financial 2024 results were helped by a strong fourth quarter, particularly in its EMEA Services arm. Less positively, Qinetiq said its Global Solutions business was hurt by market conditions in the US.
Qinetiq will release its annual results on May 23.
Looking further ahead, Qinetiq said financial 2025 will be ‘another strong year at group level’. The company remains on track for its longer-term guidance.
Qinetiq noted that it has completed £22 million of the £100 million share buyback programme that it announced in January.
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