IMPROVED earnings from Austal’s US shipbuilding operations have helped the company to Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) of $56.5 million for the 2024 financial year, compared to a $4.8 million loss in 2023.
Austal Chief Executive Officer, Patrick Gregg said the improved financial result in FY2024 came as it transitioned from existing to new programs.
“Our record order book continues to grow and will grow further once the Australian Government announced programs are contracted through the Strategic Shipbuilding Agreement later this year,” Mr Gregg said.
“These orders will add billions of dollars of work to our Australian operations, and coupled with recent commercial wins, means a recovery in Australasian financial results is expected.
“The Company delivered Earnings Before Interest and Tax in line with market guidance, despite lower revenue for the year.
“While Australasia underperformed financially due to fewer commercial shipbuilding awards and later than expected defence awards, we are well positioned for a long runway of Australian defence vessel build programs.
“The support business was a strong earnings contributor across both the USA and Australasia. We had predicted support revenue would reach $500 million by FY2027. At $467 million we were very close to getting there three years early.
“We remain confident Austal has a positive outlook which is underpinned by a record order book and more diverse revenue base from our growing support business, expanding technology business, and a large and increasing number of defence construction programs.”
