Ultra Electronics sees lower profits but investors buy in

The share price of FTSE 250 defence contractor Ultra Electronics (LON:ULE) shot 11.45% higher to 1,431p (as of 12:00 GMT) despite a 29.7% drop off in pre-tax profits for the year ended 31st December. Profits were still in line with expectations, but there were some brighter spots in the results as the company returned to organic revenue growth.

Chief executive officer Simon Pryce commented: “After a good second half and having addressed a number of legacy issues, we delivered an encouraging set of results in 2018. While there is much work to be done in the next phase of Ultra’s development, we now have a solid platform from which to grow and deliver against our goal of creating long term, sustainable value for all our stakeholders.

Significant additional potential exists in Ultra through focusing the Group on where we add value, improving core processes and better leveraging the combined Group’s strengths and capabilities. We anticipate that 2019 will be a year of good underlying progress and we look forward to an exciting future of growth with confidence“.