LONDON (Reuters) - British engineering and support services firm Babcock (L:BAB) said it was on track to continue the growth trend of previous years, despite revenue from its defence and security division coming in lower in the first half of the year.
The company said on Thursday it expected revenue from the division to improve over the second half of the year and saw low single-digit growth for the full 2015/16 financial year.
It also said its Mission Critical Services business, which accounted for less than 4 percent of total group revenue last year, had been impacted by renewed oil price weakness in recent months.
Oil and gas revenue from the division was expected to undergo a low double-digit decline in the first half of the year, Babcock said, which would be offset by growth of around 10 percent in its emergency services business.
Babcock, whose largest customer is Britain's Ministry of Defence, said its order book had remained stable at 20 billion pounds. Its bid pipeline has also remained stable at 10.5 billion.