Chemring shares fall as notes slower than expected start to year
Chemring Group PLC on Friday said its order book grew slightly as it noted it was well positioned to benefit from rising defence spending across Nato and allied nations.
Romsey, Hampshire-based Chemring is a manufacturing and technology firm involved in the security and aerospace sectors.
First quarter order intake was £122 million, down 69% from £393 million a year ago.
The firm said: ‘We have had a slightly slower than anticipated start to the year, primarily due to some operational disruption in countermeasures production, which is now largely resolved. At our US countermeasures facility, Kilgore Flares [KFL] in Tennessee, the operational performance and efficiency of its fully automated facility continues to steadily ramp. The decision has therefore been taken to retire a number of KFL’s legacy operations and to transfer manufacturing to the automated facility, which is expected to lead to a non-cash impairment charge.’
The company said its outlook for the current financial year ending on October 31 is in line with the board’s expectations, with revenue set to be slightly more second-half weighted than a year ago.
The order book as of January 30 was £1.36 billion, up 1.0% from £1.35 billion a year prior.
Chemring said expected financial 2026 revenue was 85% covered by first quarter revenue and current order book, compared to 81% a year ago.
Chief Executive Officer Michael Ord said: ‘Chemring is well positioned to benefit from rising defence spending across Nato and allied nations, evidenced by our record order book and a strong pipeline of opportunities, and we will continue to invest in our business to capture further growth. For financial 2026 our outlook is unchanged.’
The company said: ‘Significant investment in growing Energetics capacity continues at pace. This investment, which is being funded through existing debt facilities, is expected to result in net debt trending higher at H1 and the full year as we invest in the business.’
Chemring shares fell 3.3% to 505.00 pence each on Friday morning in London.
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