‘It is pleasing that order intake in the second half year for both Petards Rail and Petards Defence were at levels not seen for several years’
The Petards base in Gateshead(Image: Google Earth)
Gateshead security tech firm Petards has hailed rising revenues and earnings in its full year results on the back of a solid increase in contracts. The listed Team Valley company develops advanced security, communication and surveillance systems for the traffic, communications, rail and defence sectors, employing more than 110 people at its base in Princesway.
Bosses said improved trading had been driven by Petards Rail and a profitable maiden full-year’s contribution from Affini, the Derby-based wireless specialist that Petards acquired last year. Turnover in 2025 jumped 24% to £14.9m, and adjusted Ebitda more than doubled from £400,000 to £1m, while net cash inflows from operating activities also grew to £1.4m, up from £200,000.
It also narrowed its operating loss from £774,000 to £435,000. Petards said more than half of revenues came from service, engineering support, spares, repairs and managed service. It saw reduced revenues at subsidiary QRO – which delivers complete end to end ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) systems – due to delays in customer order placement,but said these were offset by stronger performances at other operations.
QRO is expected to regain momentum over this financial year.
Chairman Raschid Abdullah thanked all of its employees for their hard work, support and commitment throughout the year, adding that “their collective effort, teamwork, and innovation support the progress we are making and positions the group well for the future”.
He said: “Given the difficult market conditions experienced by both Rail and Defence in recent years, it is pleasing that order intake in the second half year for both Petards Rail and Petards Defence were at levels not seen for several years. Of particular note were the contract awards from the MOD, Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land and BAE Systems in the last two months of the year totalling £3.5m.
“The largest of these was the £2.2m order from RBSL which is for the provision of initial electronic design and obsolescence management services in support of RBSL’s Challenger 3 Upgrade Programme, for which the main deliverables are scheduled for the current year.
“Following on from this we are well positioned to extend our involvement into the manufacturing phase of the programme.”
Mr Abdullah said the closing order book of £9.2m represents Petards’ largest year end order book in years, £7.7m of which is scheduled for delivery during 2026.
He added: “While Petards is not exposed any more than similar companies of our size, we are understandably cautious in terms of the impact that current events in the Middle East might have on both supply chains and our customers plans, should the situation remain unresolved over an extended period. At this stage it is difficult to predict what the short and medium term outcome may be.
“Nevertheless, the Group’s £9.2m opening order book and its revenue coverage for 2026 is encouraging and provides a solid base from which the business can progress.
“We enter 2026 in a stronger position than has been the case in the past few years. While customer order placement decisions continue to be taking some time, I am pleased to report that 2026 has started well with first quarter Group earnings in line with the Board’s expectations.
“Given the strength of the opening order book and its cover for 2026, the Board is confident that the Group is well placed to deliver a continued improvement in its trading performance in the coming year.”
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