6th Jun 2007 12:19
Cobham PLC06 June 2007 6 June 2007 AGM STATEMENT Cobham plc ('Cobham', 'the Group') will hold its Annual General Meeting at 12:00today at the offices of Dresdner Kleinwort, 30 Gresham Street, London. GordonPage, Chairman, will make the following statement: '2006 was a year of progress with the Group achieving good profit and earningsper share growth and a 2% point improvement in the trading margin. Good progresswas also made in reshaping the portfolio and aligning the divisions. The focuson streamlining the business has permitted the Group to concentrate resources onits core technologies and bringing the best of Cobham to its customers. After the first four months of 2007, trading is ahead of last year. In line withthe pattern of previous years, trading in 2007 will be biased towards the secondhalf. Cobham's businesses are well placed in growth markets, where there aremany opportunities to leverage its products, services and technologies. TheGroup will continue to focus on PV investment and seek acquisitions that are astrong fit with its strategy. In 2007, the Group has won some important new business, including Cobham'slargest ever antenna award, worth up to $248m for systems supplied to the USArmy, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Cobham Defence Communications based inBlackburn, UK was recently honoured with a Queen's Award for Enterprise in theInternational Trade category for the second time. This was in recognition of a300% increase in the export of its digital Vehicle Intercom Systems over thelast three years. The Group's strong order intake has resulted in an order bookat the end of April 2007 of over £1.7bn. On 30 May 2007, the Group announced it had reached agreement to purchase theassets of Patriot Antenna Systems ('Patriot') for cash consideration of $18mwith additional consideration of up to $27m, contingent on future performance.The purchase is anticipated to complete in quarter three of 2007, subject tocertain environmental clearances. Patriot is based in the USA and designs andmanufactures parabolic antennas and a range of specialist Radio Frequencyequipment. It will provide Cobham with a product, technology and capability setthat can be exploited across the Group's antennas business. In a statement to the House of Lords today, UK Ministry of Defence ('MOD')Defence Equipment and Support Minister Lord Drayson announced that theGovernment had approved a Private Finance Initiative solution as the mostcost-effective means of replacing the RAF's fleet of VC-10 and Tristar aircraft.The Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft ('FSTA') consortium ('AirTanker') and theMOD are therefore now working together towards financial and contractual closeof the programme. AirTanker has today begun work on the Financing Competition toraise the c.£2bn capital requirement. The first stage is to alert the bankingcommunity to the main elements of the programme. Cobham has been successful innegotiating a realignment of its shareholding in AirTanker so that it is closerto its pre-existing share of work. As a consequence, the Group's shareholdinghas reduced to 13%. As previously announced, Mark Ronald was appointed to the Board of Cobham as anon-executive director with effect from 8 January 2007. Mark brings 35 years ofexperience in the US aerospace and defence industry, latterly as Chief OperatingOfficer and member of the Board of Directors of BAE Systems plc. The Boardbelieves that he will add significant value to the Group as Cobham implementsits strategy of focusing on high technology organic and acquisitive growth. The Group has also previously announced the intention of Jeff Edington, a nonexecutive Director of Cobham, to retire from the Board at the conclusion oftoday's meeting. I would like to thank Jeff for his wise counsel andconsiderable contribution to the Board over the last eleven years. The Board remains committed to exploiting the Group's strong positions inrapidly growing markets. This strategy underpins the Group's drive forprofitable growth and gives the Board confidence that the Group can achievefurther underlying growth in 2007.' - ends - ENQUIRIES Cobham plcAllan Cook, Chief Executive +44 (0)1202 882020Warren Tucker, Group Financial Director +44 (0)1202 882020Julian Wais, Director of Investor Relations +44 (0)1202 857998 Weber Shandwick FinancialSusan Ellis +44 (0)20 7067 0700 NOTES 1. Cobham plc is an international company engaged in the development, deliveryand support of advanced aerospace and defence systems for land, sea and airplatforms. The company has five technology divisions and one in the servicesector that collectively specialise in the provision of components, subsystemsand services that keep people safe, improve communications and enhance theperformance of aerospace and defence platforms. 2. AirTanker was selected as Preferred Bidder to operate the FSTA service in2005. It is a UK company dedicated exclusively to providing the FSTA service tothe UK MOD. In addition to Cobham (13%), AirTanker's shareholders are EADS(40%), Rolls-Royce (20%), Thales UK (13%), and VT Group (13%). Together, theywill produce the equipment and support it through life. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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