Defence-dependent firms set out survival strategies [Business Focus]

Government spending cuts in Europe and the US are producing mixed fortunes for leading aerospace and defence companies. One, engineering support services group Babcock International, seems to be turning the public sector cost reductions to its advantage. It recently posted a 17 per cent hike in half-year profits to ??141.7m, on the back of a 9 per cent rise in revenues to ??1.7bn.