Cohort (AIM:CHRT) shares added more than a pound to its market price on Wednesday, climbing 8.75% to 1,342p, after the defece technology specialist said its financials for the year to the end of April were ahead of expectations.
It flagged, in this morning's trading update, full-year revenue of £303m, up 12%, and adjusted operating profit of c.£36m. Meawhile, it reported a net margin of 11.9%.
The better-than-expected performance was driven by stronger second half, Cohort revealed.
"Cohort performed strongly in 2025/26, exceeding market expectations and our closing order book has reached a new record level with encouraging prospects for further orders," Andrew Thomis, Chief Executive, said.
It detailed that communications and Intelligence revenue rose to £159m, delivering a net margin of around 20% including a full-year contribution from EM Solutions, while Sensors and Effectors revenue was c.£144m with a net margin of around 7% reflecting prudent trading on ELAC's Italian sonar contract and the June 2025 sale of SEA's transport business.
Order intake was around £313m, total orders again exceeded revenue; the closing order book was a record c.£620m (supporting c.£253m of current market revenue expectations or c.80% cover), and wins included a €42.3m contract to EID, the Group said.
Cohot ended the year with closing net funds of c.£2.9m after a strong H2 cash performance and a swing from £32.5m net debt at H1, albeit with some receipts slipping into May (over £6m received in early May), and a new five-year £175m bank facility is in place.
Consensus market expectations for the year had been pitched at £34.7m of adjusted operating profit, on £293.9m of revenue and adjusted earnings per share of 58.9p.
