Defence Firm Cobham Faces FCA Investigation

Aerospace and defence firm Cobham is under investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) over its handling of inside information.

The financial watchdog told the company that it has launched a probe into the firm's actions before announcing a trading update and rights issue in April 2016.

In a statement, Cobham said its £500 million rights issue made on March 2 was "on track":

"The Company is cooperating fully with the FCA and will update the market on the outcome in due course."

The group, which has issued a number of recent profit warnings, only embarked on its last emergency rights issue in June, when it raised £506.7 million.

The scale of the challenges facing the board was revealed at the beginning of the month when it announced crippling full-year pre-tax losses, ballooning from £39.8 million last year to £847.9 million.

Shares in the firm were down more than 2% in early afternoon trading.

Cobham produces the Guardian ST820, a tracking unit used by the American FBI, and the MK 16 rebreather used by the US Navy.

Cover photo credit: Jerry Gunner