Registered number: 05728943
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2026
DEA AVIATION LIMITED
COMPANY INFORMATION
DEA AVIATION LIMITED
CONTENTS
DEA AVIATION LIMITED
STRATEGIC REPORT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2026
The Directors present their strategic report for the year ended 31 March 2026.
DEA Aviation Limited (DEA) is a world leading technology-led provider of specialised aerial data acquisition services to a diverse breadth of clients across a wide range of markets. DEA deploys state-of-the-art aerial sensing and digital processing technology in dynamic, challenging environments worldwide and is frequently relied upon to provide critical security services of national importance, demanding class-leading safety and compliance processes.
DEA Aviation Limited (DEA) is a world leading technology-led provider of specialised aerial data acquisition services to a diverse breadth of clients across a wide range of markets. DEA deploys state-of-the-art aerial sensing and digital processing technology in dynamic, challenging environments worldwide and is frequently relied upon to provide critical security services of national importance, demanding class-leading safety and compliance processes.
DEA's primary activities are intelligence, surveillance & reconnaissance (ISR), Aerial Survey and Engineering services.
DEA Aviation is part of the DEA Group and while trading directly with third party customers also provides core ISR support and services to other companies within the Group including European SAO Ltd (Malta). The ultimate parent of the Group is Hamsard 3804 Ltd.
Revenue for the year was £22.1 million (2025: £22.1 million) reflecting a similar level of activity to the previous year. Investment in skills and capacity that commenced in prior years continued. The average number of employees in the Company was 161 (164 in 2025) and we thank all our people for their hard work and dedication. Gross profit improved to £14.5 million (2025: £8.4 million) reflecting efficiency improvements made possible due to uninterrupted customer demand throughout the year. As a result margin improved to 65% (2025: 38%).
Capital expenditure on new capacity and capability in the year was £4.9 million (2025: £10.9 million). The Company continues to have access to unutilised secured banking facilities reflecting continued strategic progress for the group and, with the continued strong operational cash generation, underpins the strategic investment programme in support of further planned growth.
A net profit of £2.0 million is reported (2025: £1.9 million loss).
In September 2025 the Company published its most up to date Carbon Reduction Plan which is available at www.dea.aero/about. We take our impact on our environment and our communities very seriously and remain focussed on improving this over time, reviewing and applying strong Environmental, Social and Governance principles across the breadth of our business. The fleet all operates on Jet A1 fuel which has a low carbon footprint compared to other fleets in the comparable sectors. When working with customers and potential customers we continue to offer a low carbon flight plan option to increase opportunities to reduce carbon emissions and encourage the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel.
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DEA AVIATION LIMITED
STRATEGIC REPORT (CONTINUED)
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2026
The key financial risks and uncertainties facing the Company are set out below.
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DEA AVIATION LIMITED
STRATEGIC REPORT (CONTINUED)
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2026
Adjusted operating profit is disclosed as an alternative performance measure, calculated by adding back exceptional items to operating profit.
Adjusted EBITDA is disclosed as an alternative performance measure, calculated by adding back interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, and exceptional items to profit before tax.
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DEA AVIATION LIMITED
STRATEGIC REPORT (CONTINUED)
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2026
The Company uses cash and other financial instruments such as trade debtors and trade creditors which arise directly from its operations. The main risks arising from these financial instruments are liquidity risk and credit risk. The Directors review and agree policies for managing these risks and they are summarised below:
Liquidity risk
The Company manages financial risk by monitoring actual and forecast cash flows to ensure that sufficient liquidity is available to meet foreseeable expenditure commitments.
Credit risk
The Company operates robust credit control processes and manages credit risk by monitoring the aggregate amount and duration of exposure to any one client depending on their credit rating.
DEA is a world leading specialist technology-led provider of complex aerial data acquisition services. A pioneer in airborne data gathering, DEA uses ground-breaking techniques and the most advanced and innovative technologies in the industry and our mission is to help our service users answer complex questions and make informed decisions in real time.
As trusted experts who provide turn-key services to our customers, DEA have a clear and ambitious strategy in place to respond to the growing market demands of the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) and Aerial Survey markets.
Our core values agility, trust, innovation, flexibility and ethics underpin our approach to doing business and social values and our culture, brand, reputation and goodwill is built on these.
Success for ourselves and our stakeholders is predicated on the long-term support of customers. Our operating model is built upon a modern fleet of efficient, environmentally advanced and versatile aircraft equipped with advanced technology that provides real-time airborne intelligence. This is achieved through developed solutions that deliver the most effective flight platform for the task, tailoring a complex solution to our customers’ specific requirements in the most advantageous ways to achieve commercial, social and environmental goals for all stakeholders.
Success for ourselves and our stakeholders is predicated on the long-term support of customers. Our operating model is built upon a modern fleet of efficient, environmentally advanced and versatile aircraft equipped with advanced technology that provides real-time airborne intelligence. This is achieved through developed solutions that deliver the most effective flight platform for the task, tailoring a complex solution to our customers’ specific requirements in the most advantageous ways to achieve commercial, social and environmental goals for all stakeholders.
Our knowledge and expertise spans every aspect of technology and aviation, collectively drawing upon decades of experience in both civilian and military operations. The team blends hands-on experience and strategic leadership and governance to provide actionable insight and security for our clients.
Operating in the aviation sector brings with it specific challenges and opportunities and maintaining the highest standards as an aviation operator for safety, and having in place robust management systems throughout our organisation at all times is critical. We have a dedicated Health & Safety Committee that meets regularly and embraces audit findings of external regulators to uphold the highest standards that underpin our UK Air Operator Certificate and associated standards including AS9100, ISO27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus (CE+). There are robust and mature management systems to respond to reports and a culture of continuous improvement across the business.
Maintaining the highest professional and ethical standards and being honest, open and transparent in our business dealings is always at the forefront and we seek and act upon feedback from stakeholders’ regarding their interactions with our business. We strive to build sustainable, long-term relationships with all our customers, partners and stakeholders and ensure in our business dealings. We uphold our Modern Slavery Statement and all our people adhere to our policies and codes of conduct. It is also important to us to procuring goods and services that create work opportunities for local businesses, particularly where they are small or medium sized enterprises.
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DEA AVIATION LIMITED
STRATEGIC REPORT (CONTINUED)
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2026
Our commitment to our own team is evident in our reward packages, training & development opportunities and other benefits that support and promote healthy and prosperous lifestyles. More widely our social values are clear in our social values policy and our charitable and local engagement efforts through a charity committee and regular programme of events to inspire the next generation in careers in aviation.
DEA Aviation was awarded the prestigious Defence Employers Recognition Scheme Gold Award in 2024, having held Silver since 2019. To achieve any level of the award, an organisation must be a signatory of the Armed Forces Covenant, an obligation to recognise those who have performed military duty and a commitment to support them through opportunities such as work. Over 30% of DEA’s workforce are veterans with many more having serving partners as well as volunteers that are instructors in the cadet forces and the Company’s policies in support of this group of team members around additional leave, transition support and working patterns are well established and recognise the significant contribution these individuals and those close to them make to the armed forces.
The Directors’ are satisfied that they have met the requirements of the Companies Act in particular the requirements of section 172(1).
With further demand for ISR in a number of areas globally and the demands for aerial survey driven by environmental studies and mapping, the business is expected to continue on its growth path during the 2027 financial year and beyond. The opportunity pipeline remains strong and a significant portion of the forecast revenue is secured on committed contracts resulting in trading and profitability expected to exceed 2026 levels in the 2027 financial year.
This report was approved by the board on 28 August 2026 and signed on its behalf.
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DEA AVIATION LIMITED
DIRECTORS' REPORT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2026
The directors present their report and the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2026.
The profit for the year, after taxation, amounted to £1,985 thousand (2025 - loss £1,899 thousand).
A dividend of £700k (2025 - £nil) was paid during the year.
The directors who served during the year were:
The directors are responsible for preparing the Strategic report, the Directors' report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.
In preparing these financial statements, the directors are required to:
∙select suitable accounting policies for the Company's financial statements and then apply them consistently;
∙make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
∙prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Company will continue in business.
The directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Company's transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
Details about future developments are included in the strategic report.
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DEA AVIATION LIMITED
DIRECTORS' REPORT (CONTINUED)
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2026
There have been no significant events affecting the Company since the year end.
The auditors, Shorts, will be proposed for reappointment in accordance with section 485 of the Companies Act 2006.
This report was approved by the board on 28 August 2026 and signed on its behalf.
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DEA AVIATION LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF DEA AVIATION LIMITED
We have audited the financial statements of DEA Aviation Limited (the 'Company') for the year ended 31 March 2026, which comprise the Profit and loss account, the Statement of financial position, the Statement of changes in equity and the related notes, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditors' responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the Company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the United Kingdom, including the Financial Reporting Council's Ethical Standard and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the directors' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the Company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the directors with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
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DEA AVIATION LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF DEA AVIATION LIMITED (CONTINUED)
The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report other than the financial statements and our Auditors' report thereon. The directors are responsible for the other information contained within the Annual Report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:
∙the information given in the Strategic report and the Directors' report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
∙the Strategic report and the Directors' report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the Company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Strategic report or the Directors' report.
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DEA AVIATION LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF DEA AVIATION LIMITED (CONTINUED)
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an Auditors' report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:
Our approach to identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, was as follows:
∙the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence, capabilities and skills to identify and recognise non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations; and
∙through discussions with the directors and other management and from our commercial knowledge, we identified the laws and regulations applicable to the Company.
We assessed the susceptibility of the Company’s financial statements to material misstatement, including obtaining an understanding of how fraud might occur, by:
∙making enquiries of management as to where they considered there was susceptibility to fraud, their knowledge of actual, suspected and alleged fraud; and
∙considering the internal controls in place to mitigate risks of fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations.
To address the risk of fraud through management bias and override of controls, we:
∙performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships;
∙reviewed the general ledger entries during the year to identify unusual transactions;
∙assessed whether judgements and assumptions made in determining the accounting estimates were indicative of potential bias;
∙investigated the rationale behind significant or unusual transactions; and
∙performed substantive testing on a random sample of expenditure and agreed income to external reports.
In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:
∙agreeing financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation
∙reading the minutes of meetings of those charged with governance;
∙enquiring of management as to actual and potential litigation and claims;
∙considering relationships with HMRC and other relevant regulators; and
∙reviewing legal and professional costs to identify any indicators of litigation.
Material misstatements that arise due to fraud can be harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion.
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DEA AVIATION LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF DEA AVIATION LIMITED (CONTINUED)
A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our Auditors' report.
This report is made solely to the Company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an Auditors' report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Company and the Company's members, as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
for and on behalf of
Cedar House
63 Napier Street
S11 8HA
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DEA AVIATION LIMITED
PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2026
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DEA AVIATION LIMITED
REGISTERED NUMBER: 05728943
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION
AS AT 31 MARCH 2026
The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the board and were signed on its behalf on 28 August 2026 .
The notes on pages 15 to 32 form part of these financial statements.
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