BAE profits more than double

Defence contractor beats forecasts with half-year sales of £6.9bn

BAE provides defence systems to the MoD

Defence contractor BAE Systems has exceeded market expectations with half year sales of £6.9bn.

Continued success in the US, coupled with increasing military activity in Iraq and Afghanistan, helped the defence contractor to more than double profits from £293m to £643m for the first six months of the year.

Internal US growth was 12 per cent and is expected to continue at a similar rate throughout 2007.

BAE’s order book is also up from £30bn last year to £31.7bn this year.

The strong results follow last month's acquisition of US-based vehicle maker Amour Holdings for $4.1bn (£2bn). BAE said it is on the lookout for further deals.