Cohort PLC has reported that it continues to expect performance for the year to 30 April 2023 to be ahead of the previous year. It noted order wins since the start of the financial year of over £70m and a resulting order book, as of 20 September, of over £300m, indicative of c.95% cover of consensus FY23 revenue outlook. Encouragingly, order book longevity continues to increase.
As previously noted, the FY22 year-end order book closed at record at £291m, underpinning £128m or 78% of market FY23 revenue outlook. New orders post 1st May, including the £34m contract win for SEA (7 September), mean that the current order book stands at over £300m.
The most recent events in the war in Ukraine serve as a reminder of the renewed emphasis on defence preparedness across NATO and in the UK. Cohort reports increased levels of activity from the UK MOD, highlighting MCL – specialist in electronic communications and information systems – where strong performance in FY23 is expected
The expanded order book Cohort reports, backed by order longevity, underpins our April 2023 estimates, which remain unchanged at revenue growth of 16.5%YoY to £160.5m and EBITDA growth of 13.5%YoY to £22.0m. Consequently we reiterate our Fair Value of 650p/share.
