Defence contractor Babcock has disclosed a significant £140 million financial setback, stemming from extensive late-stage reworks required on its new Royal Navy warships. The London-listed firm, a key supplier to the Ministry of Defence , informed investors that this charge on its Type 31 contract had adversely affected its annual financial performance. Under the terms of the agreement, Babcock is tasked with constructing five frigates at its Rosyth facility in Fife . The initial two vessels were launched over the past year, following a four-year construction period. But Babcock said on Wednesday it had experienced “higher than expected levels of rework as a result of changes to the design” and that the work “is being performed in the later stages of completion, and therefore is more complex and more costly”. The third and fourth ships are still in early construction stages so will not be as affected by reworks as the first two, it said.…