Filtronic toasts £500,000 deal with UK defence customer

North tech manufacturer Filtronic has secured a £500,000 contract with a UK defence customer.

The electronic component manufacturer, which has bases at NETPark in Sedgefield, County Durham, Yeadon in Leeds and Maryland, USA, announced the award of a new contract to design, manufacture and deliver a modular, programmable reference system for testing RF equipment.

The new deal is for a system, designed to be compatible for land, sea and airborne platforms, which will enable it to be used for both outdoor field trials and static laboratory-based testing.

The deal marks he second contract award Filtronic has received from the defence customer, following the award of the battlefield communications contract in January 2021, and is expected to be delivered within FY2023.

Richard Gibbs, chief executive officer, said: “Having proven our expertise and capability on our initial contract win to this customer, I am delighted we have been awarded another contract, for a different system, through a framework we have been actively targeting.

“Electronic warfare and the defence market is key to our growth plans, where our technology is highly relevant and valued.”

The latest contract means Filtronic has totted up deals worth £1.25m in recent weeks, with the most recent following on from a £400,000 deal with an existing aerospace and defence company, and a £350,000 contract with a quantum computing company.

Meanwhile in a recent trading update issued ahead of its results, directors said the firm expects to report a 50% profit boost despite the challenges of the global semiconductor shortage.

They said a strong sales mix and tight cost controls will result in adjusted EBITDA being materially ahead of forecasts, at no less than £2.7m, up from £1.8m.