BAE Systems lifts 2025 outlook as H1 sales jumped 11%

UK aerospace and defence company BAE Systems raised its full year outlook as sales in the first half of fiscal 2025 increased 11%, driven by growth in all sectors.

The company’s sales reached £14.62bn for the six months ending 30 June 2025, compared to £13.39bn during the same timeframe in the previous year.

The underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) also saw a notable increase of 13%, reaching £1.55bn, which boosted the group’s return on sales to 10.6%.

This financial upturn is reflected in the underlying earnings per share (EPS), which grew by 12% to 34.7p, inclusive of the group’s underlying net finance costs and tax considerations.

Despite a strong order intake valued at £13.2bn across all sectors, this figure fell short of last year’s £15.1bn.

The order backlog as of the end of the first half stood at £75.4bn, a decrease from £77.8bn recorded in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.

BAE Systems chief executive Charles Woodburn said: “Our teams have delivered another strong operational and financial performance in the first half of the year, giving us the confidence to upgrade our guidance.

“In this heightened global threat environment, we continue to deliver mission critical capabilities to armed forces around the world and invest in our people, technologies and facilities to drive the improved efficiency, capacity and agility needed to meet the increasing demand for our highly relevant products and services.”

BAE Systems has revised its full-year guidance upwards for both sales and underlying EBIT by 100 basis points each in response to the first half performance.

Sales are now projected to grow between 8% and 10%, an improvement over previous forecasts ranging from 7% to 9%.

The company anticipates an increase in underlying EBIT between 9% and 11%.

However, the forecast for underlying EPS growth remains unchanged at an anticipated rate of 8% to 10%.

This unchanged EPS outlook is partly attributed to an expected reduction in share repurchases due to a rise in share price since the beginning of the year and a slightly higher tax rate.

In June 2025, BAE Systems opened a new advanced assembly hall at its Govan facility in Glasgow.

The company also secured a $30m contract from the US Navy for enhancements to the Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) AN/APX-123A(V) Common Transponder (CXP) in the same month.

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