DJ BAE Systems Was Helped by Increased US Defense Spending -- Market Talk
1028 GMT - Shares in BAE Systems are among the biggest FTSE 100 risers, up 3.6% after the arms group reported higher annual profit and achieved its earnings-per-share target. Hargreaves Lansdown says the company benefited from increased U.S. government defense spending. "BAE also seems to think this level of spending will be sustained in the near-term, which would be good news," says HL's Sophie Lund-Yates. "BAE has made progress on its hefty pension deficit, having agreed to make a debt-funded GBP1 billion payment in the coming months. That means the decks are being cleared faster than originally planned and there's scope for free cash-flow to sail higher from 2022." (philip.waller@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 20, 2020 05:31 ET (10:31 GMT)
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