Cutting costs

Meggitt has announced first-quarter trading in line with expectations, but warned that the overall outlook for 2009 remains challenging.

In 2008, the Bournemouth-based specialist in aerospace equipment, high-performance sensors, defence training and combat systems recorded double-digit growth in both orders and underlying earnings. Civil aerospace revenues increased by 31 per cent, military revenues by 35 per cent and energy revenues were up 21 per cent.

However, between December 2008 and March 2009 orders increased by less than four per cent following difficult market conditions. The orders for this period came predominantly from the military sector and included air data systems for the Apache attack helicopter, training-systems upgrades for the US Army and follow-on electronic cooling systems for the M1A2SEP Abrams tank.

Given continued economic uncertainties, the group said the year ahead would prove challenging. In civil aerospace, air traffic has been forecast to decline by 5-6 per cent in 2009 and to stay flat or increase slightly in 2010.