Meggitt surges as Elliott Capital Advisors takes 5.2% stake

Meggitt surged on Monday as it emerged that activist investor Elliott Capital Advisors has taken a stake in the FTSE 250 defence and aerospace engineer.

According to a regulatory filing, Elliott Capital has taken a 5.2% stake in Meggitt through contracts for difference.

Last week, Meggitt reported a drop in first-half pre-tax profit but lifted its interim dividend and confirmed its guidance for 2016.

For the six months to the end of June, statutory pre-tax profit fell 60% to £46.6m as revenue slipped 2% to £882.9m. The company said the statutory results were hit by £50.8m negative mark to market of its financial instruments, mostly as a result of the recent weakness in sterling following the Brexit vote.

Statutory operating profit was 51% lower than the first half of last year at £63m. On an underlying basis, pre-tax profit was flat at £152m while operating profit nudged up 2% to £163.3m.

The company declared an interim dividend of 4.8p per share, up from 4.6p in 2015.

At 1205 BST, Meggitt shares were up 7.2% to 444.30p.