In what appears to be a delayed reaction to a bullish outlook in the company's annual report released last week, Codan Ltd (ASX: CDA) shares have surged to another record high.
The stock hit an early high of $51.64 on Monday before settling slightly to be 2.7% higher at $51.43.
The company's value has increased 71.6% over the past 12 months, and it is now worth $9.13 billion.
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Both Codan divisions performing well
Codan's major revenue-earning divisions are its Minelab metal detection business and its communications division, which includes technology used in unmanned systems.
The communications divisions last year achieved revenue of $506.2 million, up 22% on the previous year, beating the company's guidance and "driven primarily by strong demand for unmanned radio systems'', the company said in its annual report released last week.
The company said:
Communications' segment profit increased by 45% to $156.0 million with segment profit margins expanding to 31%, up from 26% in the pcp, reflecting favourable product sales mix and operating leverage. Pleasingly, the segment exceeded the achievement of 30% end of FY27 profit margin target by 18 months. Revenue from defence customers represented 58% of total Communications revenue (up from 38% in FY25), underscoring the increasing importance of this vertical to Codan and reflecting the global tailwinds of sovereignty and increased defence spending commitments.
Codan said revenue from the unmanned sector more than doubled to $215 million over FY26.
In the metal detection division, Codan said the result was "exceptional", with revenue up 42% to $362 million and segment profit up 65% on FY25.
The company added:
Minelab successfully launched four new products in FY26 in the gold, recreational and countermine markets, including the new flagship GPZ8000 gold detector, the Gold Monster 2000, the Vanquish 60 and Countermine's MDS-20 detector. These launches reflect Minelab's global technology leadership across its detection portfolio.
On the outlook, Codan said it was entering FY27 with positive momentum.
The communications division is targeting full year revenue growth in the order of 20%, with the first half of the year to be "significantly" strong than the same period in FY26. Minelab is well positioned for FY27, with a full 12-month contribution from recently launched products. Early H1 FY27 market conditions have been positive, with strong demand in particular for the new GPZ8000 and Gold Monster 2000 detectors.
The company will provide a further update at its annual general meeting on 20 October.
