TECHNOLOGY company QinetiQ, which employs nearly 900 people in Malvern, made an underlying operating profit of £161.3 million in 2011/12, according to figures released last week.

The profit is slightly larger than the previous year’s figure of £145.4 million.

The firm’s preliminary results were presented to analysts at the London Stock Exchange.

Its before-tax profits increased from £26.6 million to £331.6 million, with basic earnings per share rising from 0.8p to 39.6p.

Chief executive officer Leo Quinn said: “Two years ago we began QinetiQ’s transformation with our 24-month self-help programme.

“During that time, despite market headwinds, we have focused the portfolio, upgraded the leadership to drive a more competitive commercial culture and rebuilt the balance sheet.

“These achievements provide a strong foundation from which to launch our next phase, the Organic- Plus programme.

“At the heart of QinetiQ is a strong defensible core, built on the deep domain expertise of its people.

“We will continue to invest in this core as the changing needs of our customers provide opportunities for medium-term growth.

“Our portfolio also contains a number of smaller businesses, some of which could have considerable potential for the future.

“Given the continuing uncertainty and lower than normal visibility in our markets, our expectations for trading performance in the current year remain unchanged.

“However, the success of our selfhelp programme in restoring both the balance sheet and portfolio to strength gives the board confidence in QinetiQ’s ability to build significant value over the next phase of its development.”