SHIPBUILDER VT has today announced a bumper crop of results with turnover up 19 per cent to £671m and pre-tax profits exceeding £46m.

The former Southampton company, which historically quit the city earlier this year in favour of a state-of-the-art facility in Portsmouth, is reaping the benefits of its switch in emphasis to support services, which have supported it during a "transitional year" for shipbuilding.

It also took the opportunity to confirm its long-rumoured interest in buying BAE's two shipbuilding yards on Clydeside.

An order book worth £2.4 billion for, among other items, fast attack craft for the Greek navy, communications equipment and army training contracts mean the future looks bright.

Many Southampton workers stayed with the company after the switch to the new facility, which the company claims to be the most modern in the world.

They are said to be 20 per cent more productive now compared with the Woolston yard.

The year saw the yard finish the delayed Mirabella V project and secure a contract to supply Associated British Ports, which runs Southampton docks, with a range of tug and pilot boats over the next ten years.

In shipbuilding, operating profits were £7.4m on turnover of £156.5m, which was up on last year's performance of £140.9m.

But it was in support services where VT, formerly Vosper Thornycroft, really shone.

An $18m acquisition of US defence support services company JA Jones doubled its stake in the American market. The company came with 11 contracts with an annual turnover of $100m. Within four years, VT aims to establish itself as a $500m player in the US and sees JA Jones as a crucial step on the road.

Back in the UK, the company was also branching out into new territory with the signing of a seven-year £100m public private partnership deal with Surrey County Council to provide support services to schools.

The "unique deal" will provide Surrey schools with governor advice, curriculum and technology support, as well as finance and personal services.

Commenting on the results, Paul Lester, chief executive, who earns more than £600,000 a year, said: "The group continues to perform well with the strong growth in support services more than compensating for a transitional year in shipbuilding. The business met our target of continuing to produce double-digit growth in profit. With our strong order book and substantial pipeline of bids, we continue to be confident of further growth in the future."