British defence and aerospace company BAE Systems increased sales in 2025 to a record level, but its net profit fell short of market expectations.
Sales rose 10% last year to an all-time high of 30.66bn pounds ($41.6bn), according to a previous report. IFRS revenue rose 8% to 28.34bn pounds. The sale will include revenue net of subsidiaries’ earnings from investments accounted for using the partial participation method and the company’s own share of the income from such investments.
BAE’s order book at the end of 2025 was also a record £83.6bn compared to £77.8bn a year earlier. New orders rose to £36.8bn from £33.7bn.
Underlying EBIT, a key profit measure for the company, rose 12% to £3.32bn. The increase, as with the sale, excludes currency movements.
IFRS operating profit climbed 9% to £2.93bn.
Net profit rose to £2.06bn from £1.96bn. The consensus forecast by Visible Alpha had put it at £2.09bn.
In 2026, BAE expects sales growth of 7-9 per cent and underlying EBIT growth of 9-11 per cent.
The company returned around £1.52bn to shareholders last year, including £502m through share buybacks.
BAE’s board has recommended a final dividend of 22.8 pence per share. The payment will take place on 4 June, with the share register closing on 24 April.
This brings last year’s total dividend to 36.3 pence, a 10 per cent increase on the 2024 figure.
BAE shares are up 3.6 per cent in London trading on Wednesday.