A technology products and services provider to the aerospace, defence and security markets has seen profits rise by more than 20 per cent.

Chemring Group PLC, based at Roke Manor just outside Romsey, saw a 21 per cent increase in pretax profit in the financial year that ended October 31, rising from £44.1m in financial 2023 to £53.3m.

Despite this, shares in Chemring fell 11 per cent to 322.55 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.

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The stock is down 4.7 per cent over the past year.

A record order book of £1.04bn, the highest in Chemring's history, provides "excellent medium-term revenue coverage," the company said.

Chemring chief executive Michael Ord said: "This growing visibility gives us the confidence to continue to invest for the future, balancing near-term performance with longer-term growth and value creation."

The company raised the annual dividend by 13 per cent to 7.8 pence per share from 6.9p after a final payout of 5.2p, also up 13 per cent.