Chief Executive's review

Supplemental budgets in the US to fund overseas operations, combined with good growth in the underlying US defence budget have contributed to overall growth in the global accessible defence market. US supplemental budgets are not expected to be maintained but underlying global defence expenditure is forecast to continue to grow with increasing contributions from the fast-growing Asian economies. This expenditure naturally determines where Group attention is focused. The top 15 countries account for 80% of the global total and the US accounts for around 50% alone.

Most of the Group’s businesses are focused on the defence industry and are subject both to competition from multi-national firms and to government regulation.