Military growth

Cobham has reported a 32 per cent increase in first-half profits following a number of strategic investments in military and government markets.

The aerospace and defence electronics group saw revenue for the first six months of the year increase by more than 50 per cent to £952m, which it said was boosted by acquisitions and favourable exchange rates.

Trading margin rose by 17 per cent and the company reported an organic margin improvement of 1.8 per cent as a result of ongoing operational efficiencies.

Overall group trading profit increased by 51 per cent to £162m, up from £107m a year earlier, and basic earnings per share increased from 5.5p to 9.3p. Order intake rose nine per cent to £893m, resulting in an order book at the end of the period of around £2.4bn compared with £2.7bn a year earlier.

The group's military and government technology business reported good growth with organic revenue up by seven per cent, but revenue from commercial activities fell by 13 per cent, resulting in a modest one per cent organic growth in its technology division.