Cobham boosted by demand
COBHAM, the aerospace and defence firm, said its outlook was healthy yesterday, and that it had grown strongly in the third quarter on the back of healthy military and government orders.
The company, which makes equipment to help military vehicles like the F-35 fighter planes communicate with one another, also said favourable currency translations had helped it boost sales, as had previous acquisitions.
“Revenue is now beginning to benefit from the recent order intake for vehicle intercom systems,” the company said.
Military and government businesses had “performed well”, and boosted its order book to £2.5bn, the company added.
Cobham, which in the 1930s pioneered in-flight aircraft refuelling, said military and government market conditions were health. It added its commercial businesses had declined in generally unfavourable market conditions, however.
Chief executive Allan Cook, who will be replaced by chief operating officer Andy Stevens when he retires at the end of the year, said he expects Cobham to deliver further progress in the fourth quarter as the market improves.
The firm said it expected its fourth-quarter performance to lead to increased levels of organic revenue growth from its technology divisions in 2009.