Cohort makes 'good progress' despite Covid-19 impact

Aerospace and defence group Cohort said on Tuesday that it had continued to make "good progress" in the year ended 30 April, achieving a record adjusted operating profit despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the final months.

Cohort said a full-year contribution from Chess, a record performance at MASS and improvement at EID had all offset weaker trading at MCL and SEA.

Following the lifting of lockdown, Cohort stated it had also successfully completed a phased process of returning colleagues safely to work - with the majority now back on-site on a part-time or regular basis.

The AIM-listed group did note that restrictions on international travel continued to constrain its ability to develop new export opportunities, which generated over 30% of Cohort's revenues in 2019/20.

However, Cohort added that it had entered the 2020-21 financial year with "a substantial long-term order book" and "a strong pipeline of order prospects".

"We continue to expect that our trading performance for 2020/21 financial year will be in line with that achieved in the year ended 30 April 2020," the firm concluded.

As of 1000 BST, Cohort shares were up 5.40% at 649.25p.