I don't see that happening anymore. It wasn't wise of the British gov to cancel that prison deal. But don't take my word for it. Here check this out courtesy of the Daily Telegraph.
Defence giant
BAE Systems is unlikely to sell more Typhoon jets to Saudia Arabia because of political tensions with the UK, according to Credit Suisse.
The impact of not landing a deal to sell more to the supersonic fighters has resulted in the broker downgrading the FTSE 100 business from “outperform” to “neutral” and cutting its target price from 590p to 460p.
Credit Suisse had expected Saudi Arabia to order a further 48 Typhoons to add to the fleet of 72 jets it bought in 2007 from the Eurofighter consortium, of which BAE is part.
However, analysts at the bank now think that strained relations between London and Riyadh mean a further order could be delayed or the Saudis could buy a different aircraft altogether.
The tension comes after the Downing Street
cancelled a £5.9m deal to provide Ministry of Justice expertise to the Saudi prison service after ex-pat
British pensioner Karl Andree was sentenced to 350 lashes for making home-made wine.
Saudi Amabassador to London
Mohammed bin Nawaf bin Abdulaziz used a column in the Telegraph to warn the relationship between the two countries was in danger, saying: “If the extensive trade links between the two countries are going to be subordinate to certain political ideologies, then this vital commercial exchange is going to be at risk. We want this relationship to continue but we will not be lectured to by anyone.”
The analysts at Credit Suisse also cited reports of the sudden cancellation of a trip by British MPs and officials to Saudi Arabia as further evidence of weakening ties.
Credit Suisse had modelled its forecasts for BAE on the Saudis ordering more Eurofighters in late 2015 and Ian King, BAE chief executive, spelled out the importance of more Typhoon orders as his company assembled the jets at its base in Warton, Lancashire.
Speaking at the time of the company’s interim results in July, he said: “We have always said the second half of this year was important to Typhoon. Without more orders we will have to look at slowing down production [to keep the Typhoon line running], which could mean additional cost. We want to have continuous production.”
Noting that the “first driver of a major defence export is political will”, analysts Olivier Brochet and Ashlee Ramanathan said: “This puts at risk the order of an additional batch of 48 Typhoons by Saudi Arabia (and potentially a smaller order by its close ally Bahrain).
"BAE Systems has conditioned its 2015 earnings growth guidance to the conclusion of a combat aircraft deal. This situation makes it difficult for the group to achieve its target.”
They also warned that Saudi Arabia could buy F-15 fighters (pictured above) from the US or Rafales from France as a result, which would “imply a major shift in Saudi Arabia's defence position”.
Calculating the impact of failing to secure the order, Credit Suisse cut its operating profit forecast for BAE by 3pc to 4pc for each year through to 2018. It also slashed expectations for 2019 and 2020 by 11pc.
BAE downgraded on doubts over Typhoon orders from Saudia Arabia - Telegraph
Good day Tay.
