Morning, and welcome to the presentation of Chemring's results for the half year to the 30th of April, 2022. I am, as usual, joined today by Andrew Lewis, our Group Finance Director. I'll begin by providing a brief overview of the group's highlights for the half year. Andrew will then take you through the financial results, and I'll provide some more general comments on the market environment, our strategic priorities, and the outlook for the full year. Starting with a brief overview of our performance during the first half of FY 2022. This has been a further period of strong operational and financial performance across the group, which I would summarize as the group again delivering sustainable growth. Our focus remains on building a high quality and resilient business.
This has enabled us to negotiate numerous, hopefully short-term challenges, including delays to customer procurement cycles, supply chain interruptions, increasing utility costs, and labor availability. Despite these challenges, the group has performed in line with our expectations. Revenue was up 11% to GBP 222 million. Operating profit up 19% to GBP 33.5 million, and earnings per share up 27% to 10.8 p. In light of our first half performance, and recognizing that dividends are an important component of total shareholder returns, the board has continued its stated intention to target a medium-term dividend cover of circa 2.5x underlying earnings per share. It has therefore declared an interim dividend of 1.9 p per share, an increase of 19%. The order book was up 8% to GBP 488 million.
With strong order cover for the full year, the group remains on track to deliver year-on-year growth, and the board's expectations for FY 2022 financial performance remain unchanged. We continue to balance short-term performance with longer- term value creation. That concludes my overview. I'll now hand over to Andrew to take you through the financial results.
Thanks, Mick, and good morning, everyone. I'm delighted to be presenting a strong set of financial results for the first half of 2022. Both segments have performed well, with double-digit growth in Sensors & Information, and Countermeasures & Energetics showing another period of good improvement in operational performance. The key messages from this period's results. Revenue was GBP 220 million, which was up 11%. Operating profit grew 19% to GBP 33.5 million, and our operating margin improved 100 basis points from 14.2%- 15.2%, which delivers the mid-teens margin target which we set out three years ago. The 56% reduction in the interest charge was driven by the continued focus on the management of day-to-day working capital.
This left earnings per share up 27% to 10.5 p, driven by the operating profit growth, combined with lower interest and tax. Operating cash conversion in the period was strong at 101% of EBITDA, and this left net debt down 52% to GBP 18.5 million. The board has declared an interim dividend for 2022 of 1.9 p, up 19%, which continues the progression of growing our dividend and moving towards the medium-term objective of 2.5x dividend cover. Operationally, the strong performance in Sensors & Information was driven by Roke, which saw double-digit growth in order intake, revenue, and operating profit, and the delivery of further HMDS systems on the U.S. program of record.
In Countermeasures & Energetics, the benefit of capital investment programs delivered improved operational execution, and the niche energetics business saw recovery after a COVID-impacted 2021. The closing order book is GBP 488 million, of which GBP 188 million is expected to be delivered in the second half of 2022, which covers 85% of expected second half revenue. I've covered most of the other highlights already, so I'll just pull out the fall in the underlying tax rate for the period to 8.8%, which reflects our expectations for the full year rate. This was driven by the expected recognition of a non-cash deferred tax asset for the full year in respect of potential future interest deductions in the U.S. of GBP 6 million. Looking forward to 2023, we expect the group effective tax rate to return to the mid-teens.
In 2024 and beyond, the change to the U.K. corporation tax rate will impact the annual current tax charge, and this is currently expected to increase the group effective tax rate to approximately 20%. The revenue and profit bridges show the key drivers of the group's results this period. At a revenue level, Sensors & Information was positively impacted by strong market conditions and excellent execution at Roke. As expected, Countermeasures & Energetics saw modest growth, with the niche energetics business stronger, offset by a weaker countermeasures performance, particularly in the U.S. FX provided a 3% tailwind. At an operating profit level in Sensors & Information, we see the revenue growth dropping through as expected, with the margin improving as the higher margin Roke business grows faster than the U.S. Sensors business.
In Countermeasures & Energetics, operating profit progressed as the benefits of capital investment are realized in improved operational performance. At GBP 1 million, foreign exchange was a slight tailwind in the period. Moving to the segmental results and starting with Sensors & Information. The results show revenue up 21% to GBP 90 million and operating profit up 27% to GBP 19.4 million, reflecting the strong period at Roke, which delivered another period of double-digit growth and strong margins. As shown by the graph on the right, Roke's Information Security and Data Science business, operating primarily in the U.K.'s national security and defense markets, has an impressive growth track record over the last five years. To position Roke well for continued future growth, we continue to invest. There will be some further operating cost investment in the second half of 2022, ahead of the revenue curve.
This is focused on Roke USA and the establishment of the Roke Academy, and is expected to be a GBP 2 million cost in the second half of 2022. Revenue and profits in the U.S. Sensors business were stable in the period as the HMDS program of record continued. The 2022 delivery order under the IDIQ contract has been delayed as a result of the continuing resolution, and hence, deliveries in the second half of the year are expected to be lower given the lead times for specialist components. The full Roke production contract for EMBD was mobilized in the period, and first deliveries are expected late in 2022. A further delivery order for $16 million under the $99 million six-year framework contract was received, which secures expected volumes for the second year.
The AVCAD and JBTDS programs progressed with the next customer procurement decision expected on these in late 2022 or early 2023. Moving on to Countermeasures & Energetics. Revenue was up 5% to GBP 130 million, and operating profit up 10% to GBP 21 million. The margin improved 80 basis points against the same period last year, and at 16.4% has stabilized at the full year 2021 level, in line with the medium-term target set out three years ago. This is demonstrated on the graph, which shows the margin progression over the last five years and demonstrates the benefit of the investment in modernization and automation at our sites. The investment in capacity expansion and automation at our Tennessee facility to support the expected U.S. extruded flare requirements remains on track to produce its first revenues in late 2022.
The investment is the final key enabler of the segmental profitability improvement program, and we expect to see revenue benefits in 2023 and improved profitability following in 2024. On the niche Energetics side of the business, after some COVID-related challenges in 2021, we saw the business return to normal levels. Across the Countermeasures & Energetics segment, in the first half, we successfully navigated a number of tactical supply chain challenges, and in the latter stages of the period, saw a material escalation in energy costs. We expect this to continue in the second half and to dampen any further margin progression this year. The cash flow shows the group's net debt at the end of the period at GBP 18.5 million, a reduction of GBP 20.2 million in the last year, which has been driven by strong operating cash conversion.
The operating cash conversion ratio in the period was 101% of EBITDA. Indeed, across the last three years, operating cash conversion has been 106% of EBITDA, demonstrating the improvement in business practices has been permanent and sustainable. The significant non-trading item in the period was CapEx, which at GBP 17.6 million was focused on our sites in Scotland, Norway, and Tennessee. As previously communicated, we expect CapEx to remain elevated in 2022 and 2023 before starting to trend back towards depreciation in 2024. With net debt of GBP 18 million at period end and a net debt to EBITDA ratio of 0.2x , banking facilities of GBP 150 million in place, the group is in good financial health and positioned well to continue to invest for growth.
It's now three years since we set out our strategy to deliver a higher quality business, so I thought it would be worth spending some time recapping on the financial progress that we've made in that time. Our focus has been on building a financially sustainable and robust group. We have achieved our margin objective of a mid-teens group margin, have seen seven half years of clean numbers with no exceptional items, and have achieved greater than 100% cash conversion in each of the last four years. This has allowed us to invest. CapEx has run ahead of depreciation, and despite this high level of investment, we've been able to significantly reduce net debt. We will maintain our focus on doing the basics well as we continue the group's development in the coming years. Finally, looking at the order book.
At a group level, the closing order book was GBP 488 million, with GBP 188 million expected to be delivered in 2022, giving 85% cover of expected second half revenue. In both segments, we continue to work on improving the quality of the order book, leveraging deep, strong, long-term customer relationships, which has improved our short and medium term visibility. Turning to each segment and starting with Sensors & Information. Order intake was down 26%, reflecting the $63 million HMDS order in the comparative period, and the delay to the 2022 HMDS order caused by the continuing resolution.
The order book in this segment tends to be shorter cycle, and of the GBP 102 million order book, GBP 44 million is expected to be delivered in the second half, in addition to orders won and delivered in the period, giving 59% cover of second half revenue. In Countermeasures & Energetics, order intake was up 24% to GBP 112 million, reflecting strong order intake at our U.K. countermeasures business from the U.K. MoD and NATO customers, which will be delivered in 2023 and 2024. The closing order book of GBP 386 million, GBP 144 of which is for delivery in the second half, which gives 98% cover of expected second half revenue. With that, I'll hand you back to Mick. Thank you.
Thank you, Andrew. The current geopolitical uncertainty brought about by both Russia's invasion of Ukraine and increased competition with China has highlighted the need for increased defense expenditure, particularly among European NATO members. More broadly, it's highlighted the need for countries to re-equip and modernize their defense capabilities to meet the threat of peer-on-peer conflict. The outlook for global defense markets is therefore increasingly positive with strong growth predicted over the next decade. The U.S. continues to be the largest defense and security market in the world and remains opportunity-rich for the group. The $813 billion FY 2023 president's budget request for the U.S. Department of Defense is the largest ever and has a strong modernization agenda, including investment in priority areas such as electronic warfare, space, hypersonic technology, and biosecurity, where Chemring is well-placed.
Given the threat environment, several European countries, both NATO and non-NATO members, have already committed to increasing their defense spending, and more may follow suit. The budget increase from the first seven countries who have already declared their intent totals in excess of $130 billion, with a large proportion of funds allocated towards capital investment. Furthermore, the recent announcement by Sweden and Finland that they intend to join NATO may present further opportunities. In the medium- to long- term, this may strengthen demand for the group's capabilities. Partnerships and alliances such as Five Eyes, AUKUS, and NATO are seen as becoming increasingly important, and this is expected to drive greater cooperation and alignment between allies. Chemring's balanced portfolio with differentiated capabilities and Countermeasures & Energetics and Sensors & Information should enable us to benefit from both these elements of increased demand.
For the latter, the increased importance that is being placed on cyber and electronic warfare, information advantage, intelligent networks, and multi-domain integration, matched by increased budgets, will accelerate the demand for Roke's market-leading technologies. However, the customary time lag between announcements and budgetary increases translating into new orders and then revenue and cash for the group can be expected as governments take time to reposition and reallocate funding in response to the changed threat environment. Against this market backdrop, our strategy remains to deliver sustainable, profitable growth by operating in markets where we have differentiators such as intellectual property, niche technology, and deep long-term customer relationships. We will continue to focus our efforts and investment on those areas of the defense and security market where we see increased customer budgets and where we have the opportunity to leverage our capabilities across our two mutually supportive segments.
The Sensors & Information segment remains Chemring's principal area of focus for long-term growth and one where we see the greatest opportunity driven by a pivot towards the acquisition of high-technology capabilities in the areas of cyber, artificial intelligence, electronic warfare, autonomous systems, and space. Our capabilities fit very well with these growing requirements, particularly at Roke, which has continued its track record of double-digit growth. We will continue to focus our efforts on expanding our product, service, and capability offerings, constantly innovating to enable our customers to deliver competitive advantage and to defend their people, their assets, and information. We will continue to invest in organic growth, for example, in Roke USA and our newly launched Roke Academy, a center of excellence for learning and development designed to target the recruitment and development of undiscovered talent and the enhancement of skill sets within our business.
We will also continue to explore suitable opportunities to accelerate growth through further selective acquisitions. Within the Countermeasures & Energetics segment, we'll continue to strengthen and protect our niche world-leading positions through continuously improving our technological and operational base while working closely with our customers and investing in the development of new solutions to meet emerging needs. Countermeasures & Energetics has seen a continued improvement in operating margin as the benefit of capital investment has delivered improved operational tempo and efficiency. We will continue the process of modernization and automation across our sites and improving our competitiveness through investment in lean manufacturing capabilities. We will invest in new product development to ensure that our product portfolio remains highly relevant to our customers, and we will continue the process of operational alignment to share technology and manufacturing excellence across the group.
Overall, Chemring is well-placed with exposure to growing areas of the defense and security market and with products and services that are critical to our customers. We have yet again managed through various short-term headwinds, and our focus remains on continuing to do so. Recent events in Ukraine have reinforced the argument that defense is crucial to preserving peace, democracy, and freedom in the Western world, and that in order for sustainability to thrive, it requires global stability at its foundations. Chemring's purpose is to help make the world a safer place. ESG remains a priority area of activity, and we are fully committed to being a socially and environmentally responsible business. During the first half of FY 2022, we have continued to build on the good progress made during FY 2021 as we manage our sustainability agenda.
The successful implementation of our HSE strategy continues, as does our focus on achieving zero harm. Our safety performance in terms of recordable injury rate at 0.76 shows a slight increase compared to last year's 0.66, but still below our annual limit of one. The nature of most injuries were either slips, trips or falls, or musculoskeletal types of events. A key focus for the group sustainability committee has been to ensure that we not only actively manage our sustainability agenda in order to meet the near and longer-term targets that were set in FY 2021, but that we continually look for ways in which we can further improve. FY 2022 will see the group report for the first time under the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, TCFD.
In addition, the group has committed to further improve its non-mandatory disclosure by completing the CDP submission by the end of July. CDP is the gold standard for corporate environmental reporting, and it is fully aligned with the TCFD recommendations. Robust data is at the heart of all our corporate reporting and underpins our plans, investment priorities, and actions. We have now put in place an auditable framework for our emission reduction activities with external subject matter experts appointed to verify the data. Chemring is committed to ensuring that we are able to attract and develop appropriately diverse workforce. Our program of education for all senior leaders continued in the first half of FY 2022 and was complemented by a suite of DE&I training modules, which form part of every development program from early careers to senior leadership team development.
With a specific focus on gender diversity, the Global Women at Chemring committee has been established to encourage local women's networks in each of our business units, alongside delivering a global day for women at Chemring in the second half of the year. We are committed to building a sustainable company of which all our stakeholders can be proud, both now and in the future. In conclusion, we have continued to make strong progress in the first half of the year as we build a high-quality technology-based business that can deliver sustainable performance and growth. Current geopolitical uncertainty has highlighted the need for increased defense expenditure, particularly among European members of NATO. More broadly, it has highlighted the need for countries to re-equip and modernize their defense capabilities to meet the threat of peer-on-peer conflict.
Against this background, and with our market-leading innovative technologies and services that are critical to our customers, I am confident that Chemring will continue to deliver both organic and inorganic growth, balancing near-term performance with longer-term value creation. While foreign exchange at current rates is expected to provide a slight tailwind in the second half of the year, we expect additional operating expense in respect of investment in the Roke Academy and Roke USA, as well as increased utility expenses. In addition, the impact of the continuing resolution in the U.S. has delayed order intake in our U.S. Sensors business. Despite these investment choices and macroeconomic challenges, the board's full year expectations are unchanged, supported by 85% of the expected H2 revenue being in the order book as of 30th of April 2022.
Chemring is well-placed with a robust strategy, market-leading positions across different geographies and segments, and with products and services that are critical to our government and blue-chip customers. This, together with the group's strong balance sheet, gives the board confidence that Chemring's long-term prospects remain strong. That concludes the presentation. If you do have any questions, please do get in touch with us. Thanks for joining us today, and we look forward to presenting our continued progress at the full year results in December.