The Group has announced that Chesterfield Special Cylinders (‘CSC’) has been awarded an £18.2m contract which we believe to be for the supply of air pressure vessels for the Royal Navy’s third and fourth boats in the Dreadnought-class nuclear submarine programme. Management had expected BAE Systems to place an order for the third boat at the start of this calendar quarter and today’s announcement underpins current market expectations with delivery anticipated over the next 3 years and reinforces an already strengthened CSC order book. The Group raised £2.3m (gross) in December to provide additional liquidity and flexibility to support strategic investment in CSC, the delivery of existing contracts and to capitalise on growth opportunities in Integrity Management (‘IM’) services and hydrogen. Overall there is a much improved backdrop to the expected divestment of the Precision Machined Components division where activity is now strengthening. Full year results are expected on 28th February.
