BABCOCK International has announced the completion of the sale of a marine consultancy business.
Babcock said it concluded the sale of Frazer-Nash Consultancy to KBR for £293 million.
It said the sale forms part of its portfolio realignment, which aims to generate at least £400m of proceeds, the majority of which will be used to reduce the group’s net debt.
The consultancy was part of Babcock’s marine sector and had revenue of £101m in the first half of 2021 against £102m the previous year, with profit before interest and tax of £14m against £17m the year before.
Babcock said trading for the group in the first half of the year “was in line with our expectations and our full year outlook remains unchanged”.
The headline financial performance for the half year shows revenue of £2,228m with underlying operating profit of £115m.
Based on draft accounts, the group’s net debt at September 30, 2021 was £1,347m against £1,354m at March 31, 2021, and £938m, excluding operating leases, against £772m at March 31.
Babcock shares closed flat at 331.5p.
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