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Defence technology company QinetiQ reported a fall in first-half profit as performance was impacted by a write-down on a project and weaker performance in the US.
For the six months ended pre-tax profit fell to £52.5 million from £83.7 million year-on-year as revenue slipped to £600.1 million from 603.2 million.
The write-down associated with this 'large complex' project, reduced orders by £22.5 million, revenue by £8.0 million and underlying operating profit by £14.5 million.
'This write-down is due to a unique combination of emergent risks across system maturity, supplier capability and contract delivery conditions,' the company said.
The US business saw revenue fall by 18% compared to the second half of FY21 as a result of 'entering the year with lower orders due to short-term effects of COVID, transition to the new US administration and the customer's priorities shifting from counter-insurgency missions in Afghanistan to emerging near-peer threats in the Indo-Pacific,' it added.
Looking ahead, the company said expects to deliver mid-single digit organic revenue growth at about 5% and underlying operating profit margin at the lower end of our 11-to-12% expected range, before the reduction of the £14.5 million write-down.