QinetiQ, the defence contractor spun out of the Ministry of Defence, is considering acquisitions in the United States after record sales this year.
The company, which recently opened an office in Australia, is also looking to expand into the Middle East, Scandinavia and South-East Asia.
Graham Love, chief executive of QinetiQ, said that the company was keen to trade with a number of countries in the Middle East.
QinetiQ, which reported full-year results that showed an 18 per cent increase in organic revenues in North America in the year to March 31, has profited from a surge in demand for the Talon bomb disposal robot used in Iraq and Afghanistan to locate and remotely disable roadside bombs.
The Zephyr high-altitude unmanned air vehicle (UAV), a solar-powered aircraft that can stay aloft for 54 hours at a time, is expected to be a future bestseller for QinetiQ. The company is also part of the consortium selected to run the e-Borders program, which will electronically check everyone leaving and entering the UK.
QinetiQ said it expected revenue growth in North America to outpace the growth in the US defence budget and that it was looking for more deals. About 40 per cent of its business comes from the US, up from 30 per cent last year. It aims to increase the figure to 50 per cent within two years.
Mr Love said: “We're a pretty new business in the US and it's great to see our acquisitions paying off. We're still relatively small, but we're starting to get noticed and bidding for bigger contracts.”
The group made five acquisitions on the other side of the Atlantic last year, mainly in the robotic and homeland security market, and has a war chest of more than £200 million.
Mr Love said: “Acquisitions remain absolutely on our agenda and we are in a good position to continue to make them. We are not going for numbers but quality. We did five deals in the US last year and that's a manageable run rate.”
Underlying pre-tax profits across the business, created by the controversial privatisation of the Government's defence research arm two years ago, climbed by 20 per cent to £127 million.
Total revenues rose 19 per cent to £1.37 billion, with nearly £550 million coming from North America. Mr Love said the group's aim was to generate half its sales from the other side of the Atlantic.
Analysts at Numis said: “We feel that the company has made substantial progress transitioning from its historic civil service culture to an ambitious corporate entity.”
QinetiQ's directors pocketed more than £100 million from the float two years ago and continue to own a 3 per cent stake in the business. They will share about £840,000 from the 4.25p full-year dividend declared yesterday.
More than £5 million will go to the Government from its 19 per cent stake in the business. Mr Love said that the Government would definitely sell its stake “at some stage”, but that a date had not yet been fixed.
The stake means that it would be impossible for QinetiQ to relocate its headquarters in another country.
The company was embroiled in controversy at the time it listed in 2006 because of the near-£300 million profit made by Carlyle Group, the private equity group. It bought a 31 per cent stake in the business in 2002 for only £45 million. Mr Love said he was “very tired” of critics still mentioning the episode: “It's ancient history as far as we are concerned.”
In numbers
£1.37bn Revenue in the year to March 31 (up 19 per cent)
£200m War chest for acquisitions
£127m Underlying operating profit
£100m Spent on acquisitions this year
£300m Profit made by Carlyle Group when QinetiQ floated in 2006
