WIMBORNE MINSTER (dpa-AFX) - Military and civil systems provider Cobham Plc. (COB.L) Thursday reported that its statutory profit before tax for the half year fell to 60.5 million pounds from last year's restated 181.0 million pounds.
However, underlying profit before tax rose to 98.9 million pounds from 62.6 million pounds in the year-ago period.
On a per share basis, earnings fell to 2.0 pence from 7.0 pence last year, while underlying earnings increased to 3.2 pence from 2.0 pence a year ago.
The Group's statutory operating profit fell to 68.7 million pounds from 213.9 million pounds a year ago. However, underlying operating profit rose to 107.1 million pounds from 95.5 million pounds last year.
For the first half, the Group's revenue rose to 1.03 billion pounds from a restated 924.5 million pounds last year.
In line with the Board's intention set out in the 2018 Preliminary Results to reinstate the dividend, the board has declared an interim dividend of 0.4 pence.
Cobham said it has decided to commence a strategic review of the Australian operations of Aviation Services. The business is Australia's third largest aviation group, with diversified operations across Special Mission, Airline Services and Regional Services markets.
Looking ahead, the company said that its expectations for 2019 remain unchanged, although free cash flow in the year should be better than previously expected, following the first-half outperformance.
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