Is stability returning to aerospace in Dorset?
Cobham and Meggitt Q1 FY17
Meggitt and Cobham both provided in line trading statements this morning, although the current position of both companies is somewhat diverged.
Read more...2017…the year of the rooster, Trump and flying cars
What does the year have in store for Aerospace & Defence stocks?
The Aerospace & Defence sector has two distinct sides to it, with civil aerospace and defence often proffering very different investment narratives. Historically, terrorism and political instability have tended to cause the two sides of the sector to diverge, with defence valuations surging and civil valuations falling. This happened most notably after 9/11 in 2001. At the end of 2016 though, a year defined by terror attacks and political turmoil, the situation was quite different. Defence stocks were the stand out performers during last year, driven initially by the fact global defence spending is now growing, having been in decline from 2011 – 2015, and more latterly by Donald Trump’s US election victory. However, civil stocks have also performed well. Although there have been a high number of terror attacks during 2016, improved airport security measures have forced terrorists to seek new targets and so aerospace stocks have been largely unaffected, and in fact have continued to benefit from the structural growth of passengers numbers which continues to drive output growth. So what does 2017 have in store for aerospace and defence?
Read more...New tanker and fighter jet ready for take off
F-35 declared combat ready and KC-46 ready to enter production
August may traditionally be the month of days spent by the beach and long summer evenings, but it seems life has been somewhat busier at Lockheed Martin and Boeing in August 2016. Last month saw the companies achieve major milestones for the F-35A and KC-46 tanker respectively. The F-35A has now reached Initial Operating Capability (IOC) and the KC-46 has been approved to enter production. These are significant achievements because the products have both had eventful development phases and both aircraft should be important drivers of profitability going forward, at not only the prime manufacturers but for suppliers as well, notably BAE Systems with its significant programme share.
Read more...A New Year’s resolution for Cobham?
CEO and CFO to move on from the struggling Aerospace & Defence company
Three years ago I, and many others, expected Cobham to be given a fresh lease of life by its new CEO Bob Murphy and CFO Simon Nicholls who joined the company in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Mr Murphy was the first American to take the helm of a business whose largest customer is the US Department of Defence (DoD), and Mr Nicholls was the highly respected CFO of Senior, where he had a reputation for cost cutting and attention to detail. Whilst Cobham has made some progress under their stewardship, the past three years have also been turbulent for the company. Here we stand in 2016; a year which has seen the company profit warn, require a £500m rights issue and the CFO resign. To cap it off, it was announced last Wednesday that Mr Murphy is to leave the company in order to ‘pursue other opportunities’, ending months of speculation over whether he would remain as CEO. So what has gone wrong and what does this change in management mean for the company?
Read more...The summer of hate
The impact of terrorism on the Aerospace & Defence sector
An article in the press today described the summer of 2016 as the “summer of hate”. The relentless pace of the attacks has invoked terror into the minds of ordinary people and politicians have been forced to make frequent declarations of their determination to protect their citizens. It therefore seems logical to me that the summer of 2016 will be one which shapes the near term future for Aerospace and Defence companies.
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