Cohort PLC on Thursday said its annual trading performance was better than expected, thanks in part to the war in Ukraine, and expects strong trading in the coming year.
Cohort is a Reading, England-based technology company with six business units serving the defence and security sectors.
Cohort said its trading performance for the year ended April 30 was ‘slightly ahead of expectations on higher revenue’, but did not provide a figure. It reaffirmed that it has returned to growth and expects to report a ‘record’ profit in its upcoming annual results.
The group’s closing order book on April 30 was over £325 million, up from £291.0 million at the same time a year prior. Cohort said this underpinned around £145 million or 84% of consensus market revenue expectations for the current financial year. Total order intake for the year was about £218 million, up from £186.7 million the prior year.
Cohort also on Thursday announced changes to its segmental reporting practice, amalgamating its six business units into two reporting segments. The Communications & Intelligence segment comprises its EID, MASS and MCL businesses, while the Sensors & Effectors segment comprises the Chess, ELAC and SEA units.
Cohort said the new structure would provide a clearer understanding of its underlying performance and provide more scope for expansion as the group continues to grow. It also believes this will simplify future financial reports.
In Communications & Intelligence, Cohort said its continued weak performance in Portugal was offset by strong demand from the UK Ministry of Defence. Meanwhile it said growth was strong across the board in Sensors & Effectors, including increased work at ELAC Sonar on the Italian submarine programme.
Cohort expects continued demand from domestic and overseas customers, due to the ongoing Ukraine conflict and tensions between China and Taiwan fuelling increased investment in defence products and services.
In the current financial year it expects Communications & Intelligence trading in line with the previous year’s. Cohort also anticipates growth in Sensors & Effectors due to the Chess business’ improving performance and increased delivery of systems for naval customers.
‘Cohort’s performance was slightly above our expectations for the year,’ commented Chief Executive Andrew Thomis. ‘Strong order intake, record closing order book and strong closing net funds provided a good start to the new financial year, and we expect to continue our organic growth in 2023/24 and beyond.’
Shares in Cohort were up 3.3% at 520.00 pence in London on Thursday.
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