Cobham first-quarter trading in line, reaffirms 2018 guidance

Cobham said on Thursday that trading in the first quarter was line with its expectations as it reaffirmed the 2018 guidance it set out back in March.

Chief executive David Lockwood said: "Cobham's turnaround has continued in the first quarter and our overall trading performance within our ongoing business was in line with the board's expectations. I continue to have confidence in our medium term prospects, supported by a more resilient balance sheet, despite the risks and challenges that remain."

The company said it remains focused on mitigating "the material risks and uncertainties" it is facing, including its onerous contracts and other legacy issues. It continues to support qualification and flight test on the challenging KC-46 tanker programme under its development and low rate initial production contract which, as previously stated, contains some significant terms related to delayed performance.

As far as the outlook for the year is concerned, Cobham said there continues to be a range of potential outcomes, although the early completion of the Wireless and AvComm divestment has removed one factor from the 2018 performance.

"As previously announced, the group anticipates limited cash generation in 2018. This is partly due to the pattern of receipts and payments relating to its onerous contracts with a weighting of cash outflows in H1 2018."