There are three main factors to look at when judging an engineer and outsourcer such as Babcock International. One is the rate at which it can grow revenues year-on-year organically, whatever the effect of exchange rate movements or other one-offs. Babcock has indicated it can grow at a rate of about 5 per cent, and the outcome for the year to the end of March was indeed 4.9 per cent, with an acceleration to 6 per cent in the second half.
The second is the rate at which work is replenished. Babcock has had to take a hit on this from the forthcoming end of its programme to decommission the UK’s ageing Magnox nuclear reactors. It has started initial work but the cost has