BAE Systems back on track as boss announces an end to cuts

Engineering giant BAE Systems’ employees breathed a sigh of relief on Thursday as boss Charles Woodburn said the restructuring of the business was complete.

“We took difficult, but necessary actions,” said the chief executive, who wielded the axe on 2000 jobs last year to keep up with rivals as orders for his fighter jets shrunk. “It has positioned us well for the future.” Although he did not rule out more jobs cuts he insisted there are no plans to do so imminently.

Revenues rose by £532 million to £18.3 billion in the year to December, lifted by positive currency movements and new orders for F-35 fighter jets.

Woodburn is pinning his hopes on new orders for the Eurofighter Typhoon “putting us ahead in the market in the next decade”, as well as growth in America.

“Depending on exactly what materialises with the US budgets, we could be looking from good growth to even better in 2019 and 2020,” he added.

However, operating profits dropped 17.7% to almost £1.5 billion and the firm warned sales will be flat this year. Shares fell 16p, or 2.6%, to 585.4p.