BAE Systems posts flat 1H profits

British arms manufacturer BAE Systems said Thursday that net profit were flat in the first half of 2012. Earnings after taxation eased to £474 million ($737 million, 602 million euros) in the six months to June, compared with £478 million in the same part of last year, BAE Systems said in a results statement. Total revenues retreated by 11 percent to £8.33 billion during the same period, while pre-tax profits dropped 5.2 percent to £655 million. However, the group's order book grew to £40 billion, compared with £39.1 billion last time around. In recent years, the group's performance has been hit as military budgets were cut in Britain and in the United States. "The outlook for defence spending in the UK has stabilised," BAE Systems said in Thursday's earnings release. It added: "In the US, the approval of the Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2012 budget in December 2011 has resulted in less disruption to the award of defence contracts compared with the corresponding period for 2011."