Cobham says Q1 trading in line

FTSE 250 aerospace and defence group Cobham said on Thursday that first-quarter trading was in line with the board's expectations, following a string of profit warnings.

In a trading update for the period from 1 January 2017 to the end of March, Cobham said that as previously announced, it is in the early stages of enhancing operational and financial discipline, prioritising control and execution, customer focus, leadership and simplification.

The group has also begun its review of the breadth and shape of its portfolio and expects to update the market in its interim results in August.

The company said its expectations for the year remain unchanged and it reaffirmed the previous guidance for 2017 as set out in the preliminary results back in March.

Cobham said it is progressing its previously announced 2 for 5 fully underwritten rights issue, which is expected to raise gross proceeds of around £512.4m.

"This will deliver a strengthened balance sheet to support the operations of the group," it said. "Completion of the rights issue is expected to be a significant step towards the group's target net debt/EBITDA ratio of approximately 1.5x."