The company was well-positioned to deliver sustained growth in the coming years, he added, with a record order backlog of 66.2 billion pounds ($84.5 billion).

Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Aarin Chiekrie said more progress was expected.

"With some of its biggest buyers, the UK, US and Europe, all expected to continue raising defence budgets over the coming years, the sky really is the limit," the analyst said.