Babcock secures £500m UK submarine contract

(Sharecast News) - Babcock International has secured a significant contract with the UK's Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA), it announced on Friday, valued at £560m. The FTSE 250 company said the agreement encompassed a comprehensive deep maintenance and life extension initiative for HMS Victorious, a Vanguard Class nuclear submarine within the Royal Navy's fleet.

It said the multi-year undertaking would enhance and modernise HMS Victorious, ensuring its operational effectiveness extended well into the 2030s.

Starting its activities following the Department's authorisation for early-works from July 2023, the programme was already in progress.

Through the endeavour, over 1,000 jobs in the south-west region would be sustained, which Babcock said would bolster its commitment to workforce development through initiatives such as the Babcock Skills Academy based in Plymouth.

The programme was being delivered at Babcock's facility in Devonport, where a major infrastructure programme was underway to ensure the future capability requirements of the Royal Navy and the submarine enterprise were met for decades to come from "state-of-the-art" facilities.

"Delivering the programme for this vital and complex defence asset is our top priority," said chief executive officer David Lockwood.

"We are proud to have been awarded this complex defence programme which will use our deep engineering expertise to help keep the UK safe."

At 0801 GMT, shares in Babcock International Group were up 0.94% at 494.4p

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.