BAE Systems (LON:BA.) - Strength in depth

Feb 19th 2010 - Edison Investment Research today published a report on BAE Systems (BA..L, LSE:BA., LON:BA.) entitled "Strength In Depth". In summary, the report says:

BAE Systems announced a resilient set of results demonstrating its ability to deliver against plan even in a challenging environment. The underlying performance of the group was slightly ahead of consensus and we do not believe that there were any significant surprises. With the DoJ/SFO global settlement now firmly behind BAE, focus has turned solely to the outlook and forthcoming budgetary pressures. In our view, BAE has a robust spread across platforms, sub-sectors and technologies with established programmes generating cash and newer businesses focused on areas of future growth. With a strong balance sheet allowing a £500m share buyback and room for acquisitions, we feel the current rating of 8.5x CY10 EPS is undemanding.