Contract win sends Spirent up by 35%

Spirent, which makes kit to test telecoms networks, yesterday signalled trading had stabilised while unveiling a contract win from the US-based Verizon Communications, sending its shares up 35 per cent.

Nicholas Brookes, Spirent's chief executive, said the company's financial performance for the year to date was "in line with our expectations".

He said the benefits of Spirent's cost-cutting programme had now started to flow through and reiterated that the measures would create savings of £30m a year.

"Improvements in profitability have already started to be seen in September as cost savings realised through our reorganisation programme begin to take effect," he said.

The company would not place a value on the deal with Verizon, under which it will provide a fault management software system, other than to say it was "significant" and "strategically important".

Shares in Spirent closed up 44p at 169p. The stock also benefited from better-than-expected results from Cisco, one of Spirent's key customers.

Spirent also said yesterday that it had cut its debt to £339m at the end of October from £348m at the end of June and that it expected the sale of its Sensing Solutions business to General Electric to be completed by this month.