STOCK WATCH

■ HARLAND and Wolff will build naval ships for the first time in almost 20 years.

The Belfast shipyard, which built the Titanic, has been appointed as the preferred bidder along with Navantia UK and naval architect BMT for a lucrative £1.6bn contract with the Royal Navy.

The consortium will build three ships, creating 1,200 UK shipyard jobs. Around £77m will be invested in Harland & Wolff’s sites from Northern Ireland to Devon. The shares surged 33.5pc, or 6p, to 23.9p.