Chesterfield Special Cylinders: Firm expects orders boost from higher defence spending and ‘geopolitical tensions’
Chesterfield Special Cylinders has seen revenue from its defence segment jump as the firm said it expected “geopolitical tensions” and increasing global defence budgets to lead to further orders early next year.
The Yorkshire-based company saw revenue from its defence wing increase 15 per cent to £12.8m in the year ending September, up from £11.1m the year prior.
The firm said this largely reflected “strong growth” from overseas contracts secured in the first half of the year. Contract wins including submarine and surface ship programmes for the Royal Australian, Royal Canadian, US and Spanish navies also helped to boost the firm’s defence outlook for its full-year 2026 results. The company added that it also expected further overseas contract awards in the first quarter of 2026.
In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, Chesterfield Special Cylinders said: “Over the longer term, the backdrop of geopolitical tensions and the well-documented increasing global defence budgets underpin a strong outlook for newbuild programmes in the UK and overseas.
“These include initial milestones for the SSN-A (AUKUS) Astute submarine replacement programme expected from FY27, future opportunities in the US submarine programme from FY28 and wider overseas surface ship and submarine newbuild opportunities.
“Chesterfield Special Cylinders remains well positioned to secure these strategically important defence contracts.” The AUKUS programme is a defence and security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the US, announced in 2021, which will see a string of new nuclear-powered submarines built.
Chesterfield Special Cylinders provides compressed gas storage solutions across sectors including defence, hydrogen, aerospace and energy. In defence, the company supplies its technology to submarines and fighter jets, while elsewhere the firm works on decarbonisation projects and industrial gas transportation.
The latest announcement from the company came as it posted its results for the year ending September 2025. The firm saw its overall revenue increase 12 per cent during the period to £16.6m, up from £14.8m the year prior.
Gross profit lifted 22 per cent to £6.4m, while the company also posted an adjusted EBITDA profit of £0.8m, rising from £0.9m. The firm posted a reported loss before tax of £0.8m, an improvement from last year when it posted a loss of £2.7m.
Chris Walters, CEO of Chesterfield Special Cylinders Holdings, said: "We were pleased to deliver good strategic progress and significantly improved financial performance in FY25, with earnings ahead of market expectations, starting FY26 with a strong balance sheet."