12th Dec 2005 07:00
Cobham PLC12 December 2005 12 December 2005 Trading Statement Cobham plc is updating the market on trading prior to its 31st December year-endand ahead of its preliminary results announcement on 9th March 2006. For 2005,segmental results will be reported for the former Aerospace Systems (ASG),Flight Operations and Services and Chelton Groups. The overall trading performance of the Group in the second half of the year isconsistent with the outlook provided at the time of the interim resultsannouncement. In ASG, the sale of the Fluid and Air companies was completed on 1st Novemberand the sale of Countermeasures is progressing as expected. Trading in thecontinuing divisions of Life Support and Air Refuelling and Auxiliary MissionEquipment ("AR & AME") has been good, with recent orders including one coveringan urgent operational requirement for life support equipment for ground vehiclesin Iraq and a €58m order for Eurofighter Typhoon Chaff and Flare systems. AR &AME has also been selected by Airbus to supply its fourth generation air-to-airrefuelling system for tanker versions of the A400M Military Transport Aircraft(A400M). The initial order for these systems will be worth in excess of €85m. Trading in Flight Operations and Services has been broadly satisfactory. NAS hasbeen selected as preferred bidder for the A$1 billion Coastwatch programme inAustralia which, when finalised, should result in a further contract extensionto this important programme until 2020. Trading in Chelton has been strong. Recent acquisitions have been successfullyintegrated into the Defence Electronic Systems division and orders for intercomsystems for the U.S. military light utility vehicles are now being shipped involume. Other significant orders include three major suites of antennas for theA400M and there have been increased sales of stabilised antennas for oil-rigs inthe Gulf of Mexico. The Antennas division has completed the purchase of theremaining shareholding of its former joint venture, TracStar Inc, for aconsideration of US$7.6m in cash, further consolidating its focus on the growingsatellite antenna market. The Board is confident that the group's strong order book of £1.5bn and itsfinancial strength position it well to execute the technology-focused strategyannounced in September. For 2006, segmental results will be reported for the sixnew divisions. ENQUIRIESCobham plc Telephone: +44 (0) 1202 882020Allan Cook, Chief ExecutiveWarren Tucker, Group Financial Director Weber Shandwick Square Mile Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7067 0700Susan Ellis / Helen Thomas NOTES Cobham plc - with five technology divisions and one in a service sector Cobhamdesigns and manufactures equipment, specialised systems and components for theaerospace, defence, communications, law enforcement and national securitymarkets, and operates, maintains and modifies aircraft, particularly in relationto special mission flight operations. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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