Babcock International PLC (LSE:BAB) shares shot up 11.5% to a five-year high of 607p after it reported that its strong trading performance continued in the three months to December, with progress in the refit of the HMS Victorious submarine and construction of the first three Type 31 Inspiration Class warships.
The FTSE 250 company said it now expects both revenue and underlying profit to exceed the top end of analyst expectations.
For the full year to the end of March, the defence contractor upgraded its expectations to circa £4.9 billion of revenue, helped by an expected overperformance due to "double-digit organic growth" from its Nuclear business and "strong growth" in Marine.
The range of analyst forecasts underlying profit was £327 million to £339.7 million.
Chief executive David Lockwood said: "Today's announcement demonstrates that successful execution of our strategy is continuing to deliver value for all our stakeholders.
"Our engineering skills and know-how are in ever greater demand and with significant opportunities before us, I look forward to further profitable growth."