defence, aerospace and security · global · high complexity
Deep-Dive · Company Intelligence
BAE Systems grew turnover 14% in FY2024, yet pre-tax profit rose just £6m — and investing cash burned nearly ten times what it did a year ago.
Origin
BAE Systems plc is one of the world's largest defence and aerospace companies, designing and manufacturing combat aircraft, naval vessels, armoured vehicles, and electronic systems. It operates across the UK, US, Australia, Saudi Arabia, and other allied nations under long-term government contracts.
At a glance
Timeline
Big year-on-year change
Net assets grew 49% — from £7.67bn to £11.40bn.
Big year-on-year change
Net assets surged 56% — from £4.92bn to £7.67bn.
Big year-on-year change
Profit after tax grew 48% — from £1.03bn to £1.53bn.
Where our data starts
Earliest analysed accounts: FY2017. 17 years of earlier trading history are not in scope — this report pulls the most recent filed accounts from Companies House.
Name changed
Previously incorporated as British Aerospace Public Limited Company.
Name changed
Previously incorporated as British Aerospace Limited.
Company founded
BAE Systems PLC was registered at Companies House on 1979-12-31.
02 · Financials
Scene 01 · Revenue
From £17.22bn in FY2017 to £26.31bn in FY2024 — a 53% increase.
FY2017 – FY2024 · Companies House
Scene 02 · Metrics
Financial health
Computed from · cash · net assets · current ratio · debt to equity · total liabilities
Scene 03 · Trends
Eight years of revenue, profit and operating performance side-by-side. Hover any dot for the full year cross-section.
Revenue, profitability and operating growth over time
Scene 05 · Full detail
All metrics across FY2017–FY2024, now fully contextualised by the story above.
| Metric | FY2017 | FY2018 | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | Δ YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £17.22bn | £16.82bn | £18.30bn | £19.28bn | £19.52bn | £21.26bn | £23.08bn | £26.31bn | ▲ 14% |
| Cost of sales | -£16.04bn | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Gross profit | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Other operating income | £131.0m | £158.0m | £150.0m | £270.0m | £472.0m | £215.0m | £204.0m | £266.0m | ▲ 30% |
| Administrative expenses | -£16.04bn | -£15.51bn | -£16.72bn | -£17.69bn | -£17.74bn | -£19.27bn | — | — | — |
| Operating profit | £1.42bn | £1.60bn | £1.90bn | £1.93bn | £2.39bn | £2.38bn | £2.57bn | £2.69bn | ▲ 4% |
| Finance income | £416.0m | £228.0m | £27.0m | £17.0m | £32.0m | £47.0m | £172.0m | £135.0m | ▼ 22% |
| Finance costs | -£762.0m | -£609.0m | -£300.0m | -£351.0m | -£279.0m | -£395.0m | -£419.0m | -£488.0m | ▼ 16% |
| Profit before tax | £1.07bn | £1.22bn | £1.63bn | £1.60bn | £2.11bn | £1.99bn | £2.33bn | £2.33bn | — 0% |
| Tax | -£216.0m | -£191.0m | -£94.0m | -£225.0m | -£198.0m | -£315.0m | -£386.0m | -£291.0m | ▲ 25% |
| Profit after tax | £857.0m | £1.03bn | £1.53bn | £1.37bn | £1.91bn | £1.67bn | £1.94bn | £2.04bn | ▲ 5% |
| EBITDA (memo) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Metric | FY2017 | FY2018 | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | Δ YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intangible assets | £10.38bn | £10.66bn | £10.37bn | £11.74bn | £11.72bn | £12.64bn | £12.10bn | £16.26bn | ▲ 34% |
| Tangible assets | £2.23bn | £2.37bn | £2.44bn | £2.65bn | £4.01bn | £4.72bn | £3.63bn | £4.84bn | ▲ 33% |
| Investments | £328.0m | £442.0m | £441.0m | £409.0m | £630.0m | £886.0m | £916.0m | £906.0m | ▼ 1% |
| Total fixed assets | £14.65bn | £15.17bn | £16.39bn | £18.12bn | £18.32bn | £20.83bn | £20.29bn | £26.39bn | ▲ 30% |
| Stocks | £733.0m | £774.0m | £835.0m | £858.0m | £811.0m | £976.0m | £1.16bn | £1.32bn | ▲ 15% |
| Debtors | £4.24bn | £5.18bn | £5.94bn | £6.00bn | £4.83bn | £6.17bn | £6.82bn | £7.40bn | ▲ 8% |
| Cash at bank | £3.27bn | £3.23bn | £2.59bn | £2.77bn | £2.92bn | £3.11bn | £4.07bn | £3.38bn | ▼ 17% |
| Total current assets | £8.38bn | £9.58bn | £9.24bn | £9.41bn | £8.82bn | £10.63bn | £11.77bn | £11.75bn | — 0% |
| Trade creditors | -£6.75bn | -£7.74bn | -£4.39bn | -£4.90bn | -£4.64bn | -£4.99bn | -£5.44bn | -£6.38bn | ▼ 17% |
| Bank loans (current) | -£14.0m | -£785.0m | -£377.0m | -£467.0m | -£457.0m | -£53.0m | -£679.0m | -£699.0m | ▼ 3% |
| Total current liabilities | £7.59bn | £9.31bn | £9.13bn | £9.38bn | £8.70bn | £9.85bn | £10.94bn | £12.34bn | ▲ 13% |
| Net current assets | £789.0m | £269.0m | £111.0m | £23.0m | £122.0m | £788.0m | £830.0m | -£589.0m | ▼ 171% |
| Total assets less current liabilities | £15.44bn | £15.44bn | £16.50bn | £18.15bn | £18.44bn | £21.62bn | £21.12bn | £25.80bn | ▲ 22% |
| Bank loans (non-current) | -£4.07bn | -£3.51bn | -£3.02bn | -£4.96bn | -£4.60bn | -£5.19bn | -£4.43bn | -£7.71bn | ▼ 74% |
| Long-term liabilities | £10.69bn | £9.82bn | £10.99bn | £13.23bn | £10.77bn | £10.22bn | £10.40bn | £14.02bn | ▲ 35% |
| Provisions | £835.0m | £761.0m | £685.0m | £677.0m | £607.0m | £587.0m | £572.0m | £617.0m | ▲ 8% |
| Net assets | £4.75bn | £5.62bn | £5.51bn | £4.92bn | £7.67bn | £11.40bn | £10.72bn | £11.78bn | ▲ 10% |
| Total equity | £4.75bn | £5.62bn | £5.51bn | £4.92bn | £7.67bn | £11.40bn | £10.72bn | £11.78bn | ▲ 10% |
| Metric | FY2017 | FY2018 | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | Δ YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net cash from operating activities | £1.90bn | £1.20bn | £1.60bn | £1.17bn | £2.45bn | £2.84bn | £3.76bn | £3.92bn | ▲ 4% |
| Net cash used in investing activities | -£360.0m | -£341.0m | -£232.0m | -£2.04bn | £66.0m | -£422.0m | -£541.0m | -£5.27bn | ▼ 874% |
| Net cash used in financing activities | -£995.0m | -£932.0m | -£1.96bn | £973.0m | -£2.26bn | -£2.33bn | -£2.19bn | £695.0m | ▲ 132% |
| Net increase / (decrease) in cash | £542.0m | -£73.0m | -£597.0m | £102.0m | £257.0m | £84.0m | £1.03bn | -£649.0m | ▼ 163% |
| Cash at end of year | £3.26bn | £3.23bn | £2.59bn | £2.67bn | £2.92bn | £3.11bn | £4.07bn | £3.38bn | ▼ 17% |
Scene 04 · Waterfall
How each cost layer eats into the top-line on the way down to profit after tax. Cascade chart coming in the next release — for now the table below shows the same flow.
FY2024 accounts · cascade view
03 · Risk
Working capital + cash
Four numbers that tell you how stretched the balance sheet is today. The line under each is in plain English — what the number means for the business, not what to do about it.
Screening status
Governance & subsequent events
Agreement reached with Leonardo SpA and Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Co Ltd (JAIEC) to form a new joint venture company for the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), each holding a one-third shareholding, subject to regulatory approvals.
Mobilisation arrangement entered into with ASC SSN-AUKUS Pty Ltd and the Australian Submarine Agency to develop detailed plans, schedules and workforce initiatives for the Australian build programme of SSN-AUKUS submarines.
Sale of 49% share in Turkish joint venture FNSS to partner Nurol Holdings completed.
Sale of the Anniston Forge and Spares business in Alabama, US completed.
Compliance signals
Christopher Vincent Geoghegan returns two separate sanctions flags across the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020 and a Transnational Criminal Organisation regime, warranting urgent manual verification.
Severity · critical
Three individuals (Cockburn, Inglis, Symon) matched on the shared middle name 'George' against the ISIL/Al-Qaeda UN Sanctions regime at 0.85 confidence, likely false positives but requiring documented clearance.
Severity · high
Andrew George Inglis matches a Liberal Democrat MP at 0.9 confidence, triggering enhanced due diligence obligations under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017.
Severity · high
Four outstanding or part-satisfied charges are registered at Companies House, indicating significant secured financial obligations that should be assessed for counterparty exposure.
Severity · high
57 resigned directors against 12 active represents an elevated attrition ratio that should be reviewed for patterns of governance instability or regulatory-driven departures.
Severity · medium
Ownership pattern
What we can't see
Trust beneficial owners are recorded on HMRC's Trust Registration Service, which is not publicly accessible. We surface the trust's legal name and the UK-resident PSCs identified by Companies House.
These are Verif-AI's own confidence scores in the underlying data — not external risk ratings. Each dimension reflects how complete and self-consistent the filed numbers were on extraction.
04 · Market
Industry classification
Manufacturing
Companies House records the SIC2007 classification for this entity under 4 codes: 25400, 29100, 30110, 30300.
Sector context · thin
This filing doesn't carry segment reporting, concentration analysis, or a stated-priorities block — typical for small / micro-entity filings where the disclosure threshold is lower. The SIC classification above is the load-bearing market signal.
05 · People
Every named director was cross-checked against the full UK Companies House appointments dataset (27.8 million records). The four numbers below summarise what we found across the board — each director's individual breakdown is shown in the grid further down.
Each director, individually
| Role | Director | Career boards | Concurrent | Prior-failure rate | Joined | Other UK boards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director · active |
MR Nicholas John Anderson
British · United Kingdom
|
1 | — | — | 2020-11-01 | — |
| Director · active |
Thomas Arnold Arseneault
American · United States
|
1 | — | — | 2020-04-01 | — |
| Director · active |
MS Nicole Weyerhaeuser Piasecki
American · United States
|
1 | — | — | 2019-06-01 | — |
| Director · active |
MR Angus George Cockburn
British · Scotland
|
1 | — | — | 2023-11-06 | — |
| Director · active |
MR Stephen Thomas Pearce
Australian · United Kingdom
|
2 | 2 | — | 2019-06-01 | — |
| Director · active |
MS Crystal Ashby
American · United States
|
1 | — | — | 2021-09-01 | — |
| Director · active |
DR Jane Veronica Griffiths
British · United Kingdom
|
1 | — | — | 2020-04-01 | — |
| Director · active |
MR Bradley Madsen Greve
American · United Kingdom
|
1 | — | — | 2020-04-01 | — |
| Director · active |
MR Charles Nicholas Woodburn
British · United Kingdom
|
2 | 2 | — | 2016-05-09 | |
|
MR Charles Nicholas Woodburn 1 other UK board they sit onClick + Deep Dive to add a company to your basket. Bundle pricing: 1 = £9.99 · 2 = £15.99 · 3 = £20.99 · then +£4 each. BAE Systems (Holdings) Limited No. 05265414 |
||||||
Co-director network
People who share at least one other UK directorship with someone on this board. Sorted by overlap count. Click any shared boards chip to reveal the companies they overlap on.
Shared-board names aren't surfaced for this report yet — they live in the underlying network appointments but haven't been promoted to parse_meta. Email support and we'll add them on request.
Shared-board names aren't surfaced for this report yet — they live in the underlying network appointments but haven't been promoted to parse_meta. Email support and we'll add them on request.
Historical board
Every officer who has left the company, newest-resignation first. Helps spot waves of churn that wouldn't show on the active-director cards alone.
06 · AI Investigation
AI forensic pass across 100 Companies House filings. 28 page-cited signals from three specialist agents, 3 cross-signal correlations, and 4 verification questions for management — every claim traces back to a filing reference.
AI Analyst commentary
Narrator-written context blocks — what an analyst would read in 90 seconds and walk away with the picture.
Fixed assets leapt £6.1bn to £26.4bn in FY2024 — the biggest single-year balance sheet move in the dataset — while net assets grew a more modest 9.8% to £11.8bn. The gap tells you that new liabilities, particularly long-term debt rising to £14bn, are funding part of that investment.
15 directors currently registered at Companies House — large board typical of a listed FTSE 100 defence prime. Nicholas Anderson also directs Gestra UK Limited — a minor cross-directorship with no obvious conflict at this scale.
BAE Systems plc is publicly listed — no single controlling shareholder; institutional ownership is the norm for a company of this size. No PSC registered — consistent with widely-held listed plc structure where no individual holds 25%+ of shares.
Case files · Chapter dossier
Each chapter resolves one signal cluster. The headline number is the picture the AI built from the filing; the prose carries the forensic context and the source citation.
Turnover jumped £3.2bn in a single year, but operating margins told a different story.
Turnover vs Profit before tax
A 14% revenue jump with only a 4% rise in operating profit means the extra work cost more than it earned in margin terms. Pre-tax profit effectively flatlined — up just £6m on a £23bn base. Growth at scale doesn't automatically mean proportionate returns.
Source · Profit & Loss Account, FY2023 vs FY2024
Investing cash outflows grew by 874% in one year — a move that dwarfs every other line in the cash flow statement.
In FY2023, BAE spent £541m on investing activities. In FY2024, that figure became £5.269bn. Fixed assets simultaneously rose £6.1bn to £26.4bn. Something large was acquired or built — the brief does not specify what, and readers should verify the detail in the filed accounts.
Source · Cash Flow Statement & Balance Sheet, FY2024
Cash fell and long-term liabilities surged as the company reached for external money to support its investment programme.
Cash on hand dropped £689m to £3.378bn while long-term liabilities rose £3.625bn to £14.023bn — a 35% increase. Financing cash flipped from an outflow of £2.188bn to an inflow of £695m, signalling new borrowing or issuance. A charge was satisfied in March 2025, per Companies House filing MR04.
Source · Balance Sheet FY2024; Cash Flow Statement FY2024; Companies House filing MR04, 2025-03-01
The asset base expanded dramatically, but equity kept pace — just.
Fixed assets rose 30% to £26.4bn while net assets grew a more modest 10% to £11.777bn. Current liabilities also climbed 13% to £12.342bn, slightly outpacing the flat current asset base of £11.753bn. The balance sheet is heavier on both sides than it was twelve months ago.
Source · Balance Sheet, FY2023 vs FY2024
No single shareholder owns more than 25% — and the board spans three nationalities.
There is no Person of Significant Control on record, consistent with a widely held FTSE-listed group. Twelve directors sit on the board: seven British, four American, one Australian. Charles Woodburn has held the CEO role since 2016; the most recent appointment, John Pettigrew, joined in February 2026 per Companies House records.
Source · Companies House PSC register; Director appointments register
A 62/100 Verif-AI TrustScore flags one dimension that lags the others.
The Compliance dimension scores 50/100 — the lowest of the four Verif-AI dimensions and 22 points below Operational (72/100). Financial scores 65/100. The brief also does not confirm filing currency with certainty; readers should check the denomination in the original accounts before relying on any absolute figure.
Source · Verif-AI TrustScore model; CURRENCY field in filing brief
Cross-signal intelligence
Pairs of facts from different chapters that — taken together — tell a story neither half does alone. This is where investigation outperforms summary.
The £5.269bn investing outflow in [chapter 2] directly explains the 30% jump in fixed assets visible in [chapter 4] — the money left the cash account and landed on the balance sheet as long-lived assets.
The financing cash flip from −£2.188bn to +£695m in [chapter 3] appears sized to partially offset the cash drain caused by the investing surge in [chapter 2], suggesting the capital programme was planned alongside new external funding.
↔ Cross-reference
The Compliance TrustScore of 50/100 flagged in [chapter 6] sits alongside the unconfirmed currency denomination — two separate verification gaps that both point toward the same check: reading the original filed accounts directly before acting on any figure.
Deep signals
Specifics most readers would miss — surfaced by the AI for the analyst who wants to know.
Consistent with a business in a heavy investment and programme ramp-up phase — where new contracts require significant upfront staffing, supply chain, and overhead costs before the full margin benefit materialises. The filing does not specify the exact cost drivers.
The scale and timing appear consistent with a significant acquisition or a portfolio of long-term programme investments being capitalised simultaneously, financed partly by new long-term debt. The filing does not disclose the specific assets acquired.
A rising trade creditor balance alongside strong revenue growth is consistent with a growing supply chain rather than payment delays. However, at a creditor days figure of -89 days (indicating the metric is driven by contract advance payments rather than standard trade terms), the headline creditor figure requires careful interpretation.
Forensic investigation · 28 signals
Segmental revenue · capital structure · strategic KPIs. Each agent cites the exact filing page for every claim, with an AI confidence score derived from cross-citation strength.
Segmental Analysis
US revenue was £12,559m in 2024 (2023: £10,700m), representing 47.7% of total group revenue of £26,312m. Growth was £1,859m or 17.4% year-on-year.
p.154 · 7 more from this specialist
Strategic KPIs
Order backlog rose £8.0bn (11.5%) to £77.8bn in 2024, from £69.8bn in 2023.
p.4 · 9 more from this specialist
Capital Structure & Borrowings
Net debt (excluding lease liabilities) is £4.9bn, up £3.9bn on the prior year, mainly due to the £4.4bn Ball Aerospace acquisition funded partly by new debt
p.2 · 9 more from this specialist
US revenue was £12,559m in 2024 (2023: £10,700m), representing 47.7% of total group revenue of £26,312m. Growth was £1,859m or 17.4% year-on-year.
Why it matters: Nearly half the group's income comes from one country, so any change in US defence spending or policy could have a big impact on the whole business.
p.154 critical conf 97%
Electronic Systems revenue rose from £5,456m in 2023 to £7,186m in 2024, a jump of £1,730m or 31.7%. This includes the newly acquired SMS business.
Why it matters: This segment is growing very fast, partly because of the SMS acquisition, and is now the second largest by revenue — investors need to know how much of the growth is from buying new businesses versus organic growth.
p.154 important conf 95%
Saudi Arabia revenue was £2,892m in 2024 (2023: £2,687m), representing 11.0% of group revenue. Growth was £205m or 7.6%.
Why it matters: Saudi Arabia is a significant market and any political or regulatory change affecting defence exports to that country could affect over one-tenth of group income.
p.154 important conf 95%
Note 2 provides revenue and sales by segment and geography, but does not separately disclose operating profit per segment. Underlying EBIT by segment is referenced in the financial review narrative (pages 32–33) but not as a formal table in the segmental note.
Why it matters: Without segment-level profit figures in the note itself, it is harder to compare profit margins across divisions or spot which segments are most or least profitable from the statutory accounts alone.
p.154 important conf 90%
Air revenue was £6,880m in 2024 (2023: £6,517m), representing 26.1% of total group revenue. Sales including equity-accounted investments were £8,519m (2023: £8,058m).
Why it matters: The Air segment, including MBDA and Saudi Arabia work, is the largest single business — its performance sets the tone for the whole group.
p.154 useful conf 96%
Maritime revenue grew from £5,391m in 2023 to £6,002m in 2024, an increase of £611m or 11.3%. Sales were £6,187m (2023: £5,536m).
Why it matters: Maritime is the third largest segment and its steady growth, driven by the Hunter Class frigate programme in Australia and UK submarines, shows the business is winning long-term government contracts.
p.154 useful conf 95%
Cyber & Intelligence revenue was £2,411m in 2024 (2023: £2,321m), a rise of £90m or 3.9%. No equity-accounted investment sales are included in this segment.
Why it matters: This is the slowest-growing part of the business; at only 9% of group revenue it is not yet big enough to move the needle, but slow growth compared to other segments may prompt questions about strategy.
p.154 useful conf 95%
UK revenue was £7,039m in 2024 (2023: £6,102m), an increase of £937m or 15.4%. The UK represents 26.7% of group revenue.
Why it matters: Although BAE Systems is a UK-headquartered company, the US generates far more revenue than the UK, showing the business is much more global than its home base might suggest.
p.154 useful conf 95%
Order backlog rose £8.0bn (11.5%) to £77.8bn in 2024, from £69.8bn in 2023.
Why it matters: A record backlog means the company has years of work already contracted, so there is very low risk of a sudden revenue collapse — reassuring for anyone doing business with it.
p.4 important conf 98%
Sales rose from £25.3bn in 2023 to £28.3bn in 2024, a 14% increase on a constant currency basis.
Why it matters: Double-digit sales growth shows strong demand from government defence customers and confirms the company is winning and executing contracts at pace.
p.4 important conf 98%
Underlying EBIT grew from £2,682m in 2023 to £3,015m in 2024, a 14% rise on a constant currency basis.
Why it matters: Profit growing at the same rate as sales means the company is not having to spend more to win each extra pound of revenue — a healthy sign for trading partners.
p.4 important conf 97%
Capital expenditure rose from £0.8bn in 2023 to £1.0bn in 2024, a 25% increase, focused on maritime, munitions, combat vehicles and electronics.
Why it matters: A big step-up in investment in factories and facilities signals the company is building capacity to deliver its record backlog — good for long-term supply reliability.
p.8, p.11 important conf 95%
The recordable accident rate rose from 424 to 459 per 100,000 employees, and major injuries rose from 40 to 47, an 18% increase.
Why it matters: A worsening safety record is a risk flag for any organisation thinking of working with this company, as it can lead to regulatory scrutiny and lost productivity.
p.18 important conf 96%
Underlying earnings per share rose from 63.2p in 2023 to 68.5p in 2024, a 10% increase on a constant currency basis.
Why it matters: Rising earnings per share shows the company is generating more profit for each share owned, which builds investor confidence and supports a stable, growing company.
p.4 important conf 97%
IFRS operating profit was £2,685m on revenue of £26.3bn, implying an operating margin of approximately 10.2%, versus 11.1% in 2023 (£2,573m on £23.1bn).
Why it matters: A steady double-digit margin in defence manufacturing shows the company can keep making a good profit even as it ramps up spending on people, facilities and R&D.
p.4 useful conf 85%
Free cash flow fell £88m (3.4%) from £2,593m in 2023 to £2,505m in 2024, even after a step-up in capital investment.
Why it matters: The company is generating large amounts of real cash, which means it can pay suppliers promptly and invest in growth without relying heavily on borrowing.
p.4, p.11 useful conf 97%
Order intake dropped from £37.7bn in 2023 to £33.7bn in 2024, a 10.6% decrease, though it still exceeds annual sales by around 19%.
Why it matters: Intake is still comfortably above sales, meaning the backlog keeps growing, but the drop is worth watching to see if demand momentum is slowing.
p.4 useful conf 96%
Total employees increased from roughly 99,800 to 107,400 in 2024, a net rise of 7,600, partly driven by the Ball Aerospace acquisition.
Why it matters: A fast-growing headcount shows the company is scaling up to meet demand, but also increases the challenge of managing costs and keeping productivity high.
p.6, p.15 useful conf 97%
Net debt (excluding lease liabilities) is £4.9bn, up £3.9bn on the prior year, mainly due to the £4.4bn Ball Aerospace acquisition funded partly by new debt
Why it matters: The company took on a lot more debt in one year to fund its biggest ever acquisition, so leverage is higher than it was, though still manageable given strong cash generation.
p.2 important conf 90%
The company paid £937m in dividends during 2024 (2023: part of £1,418m total returns). The board recommended a 20.6p final dividend, taking the full-year dividend to 33.0p, a 10% increase on 2023.
Why it matters: Growing dividends signal management confidence in future earnings, and a 10% rise shows the business is sharing its success with shareholders.
p.3, p.7 important conf 90%
The company repurchased £555m of its own shares during 2024 (2023: £561m), returning a combined £1,492m to shareholders alongside dividends
Why it matters: Buybacks reduce the number of shares in issue, which tends to increase earnings per share, and signals that management believes the shares are good value.
p.3, p.7 important conf 90%
Operating profit £2,685m divided by finance costs £488m gives interest cover of approximately 5.5x
Why it matters: The company earns more than five times what it pays in interest, so there is a large buffer before debt becomes a problem.
p.7 useful conf 85%
The group ended 2024 with a cash position of £3.4bn (£3,378m per headline figures)
Why it matters: A large cash buffer means the company can meet near-term payments and obligations without needing to borrow more straight away.
p.2 useful conf 95%
Cumulative free cash flow over the three years to end-2024 was over £7.0bn, with £2.5bn delivered in 2024 alone
Why it matters: Strong free cash flow means the company can pay dividends, buy back shares, and reduce debt without relying on external funding.
p.2, p.3 useful conf 90%
Lease depreciation was £219m and lease interest £73m in 2024, implying a significant lease liability on the balance sheet. Long-term liabilities total £14,023m per headline figures.
Why it matters: Lease obligations are fixed costs that must be paid, so they add to the total amount the company owes even though they do not appear as traditional bank debt.
p.17 useful conf 70%
The group holds foreign currency forward contracts with notional values of £15,019m purchased and £15,591m sold, with maturities up to 2034
Why it matters: Most of BAE's revenues are in US dollars, euros, and Australian dollars, so hedging protects profit margins from sudden swings in exchange rates.
p.20 useful conf 90%
Capital expenditure rose to over £1.0bn in 2024, up from 2023 levels, focused on maritime, munitions, combat vehicles and electronics
Why it matters: Rising capex means the company is investing heavily in its facilities, which should support future growth but also uses cash that could otherwise reduce debt.
p.2 useful conf 85%
The annual report pages reviewed contain no mention of any loan limit breach, waiver, or request to change borrowing conditions
Why it matters: No covenant problems means lenders are not putting pressure on the company and normal trading can continue without restrictions.
useful conf 75%
Specialist deep panels · Structured price capture
Below the prose findings, each agent publishes a structured numeric metrics block. Segmental revenue, named KPIs with YoY %, and capital-structure metrics — direct from the source filings.
Segmental analysis
Top-segment revenue concentration: 47.7% · Segment totals reconcile to the group P&L
Strategic KPIs
Capital structure
Management questions · Open inquiry
Generated by the AI from the disclosure gaps it detected. Hover or tap each card to surface the underlying evidence that triggered the question.
Verification gaps
High-trust analysis names its own blind spots. These are metrics the AI looked for and couldn't find — anything material to the verdict needs management or independent verification.
Segmental operating profit is not formally tabled in the statutory segmental note (Note 2) — per-division margin analysis relies on narrative disclosures rather than audited line items, which limits comparability and independent verification.
07 · Documents
Filing pattern + upcoming windows
Due at Companies House by 2026-06-30 for the period ending 2025-12-31.
Annual confirmation due by 2026-10-13 (made up to 2026-09-29).
Final chapter — The verdict
Good Trust
The world's largest defence prime is investing at pace — the balance sheet is stretching, the margins are thinning, and the bet is that tomorrow's contracts will justify today's costs.
FY2024 accounts
Signal Radar
Decisive findings
The hard-hit facts that drove the score. Full breakdown — chapters, between-the-lines, all specialist findings — sits on AI Insights.
US revenue was £12,559m in 2024 (2023: £10,700m), representing 47.7% of total group revenue of £26,312m. Growth was £1,859m or 17.4% year-on-year.
Why it matters: Nearly half the group's income comes from one country, so any change in US defence spending or policy could have a big impact on the whole business.
p.154
09 · Verification
What we read
Who we cross-checked
Screening status
Steps we ran
Each step in detail
Limits and caveats
No sector-cohort comparison was generated for this filing — the benchmarking pipeline either skipped this SIC code or this report predates that block.
No PSCs are recorded against this entity — typical for listed PLCs (widely held by institutional investors) and for dormant / micro-entity filings.
The filed accounts did not surface a structured principal-risks register, or one was not extracted by the parser. Small / micro-entity filings are not required to disclose this.
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