* H1 trading profit sinks 36 pct, as expected
* Says on track to meet FY expectations
* Counting on H2 to deliver 70 pct of annual trading profit
* Shares fall as much as 9 pct (Adds CEO comments, analyst comments, share price)
By Sarah Young
LONDON, Aug 4 (Reuters) - A 36-percent drop in first-halfprofit at Cobham has left the British aerospace anddefence company needing a big improvement in the coming monthsto meet full-year targets, sending its shares down as much as 9percent on Thursday.
The company, which issued a profit warning in April, said itwas confident of a second-half rebound. But analysts said therewas no room for error.
"There's a 70 percent second-half profit weighting,execution risks are high and there's new management coming,"Liberum analyst Ben Bourne said.
At 0930 GMT, Cobham shares were down 7.4 percent, aftertouching 152.9 pence, their lowest in more than a month.
Cobham faces execution risks on some of its big programmesin U.S. defence like the KC-46 air-to-air refuelling system. New chief financial officer David Mellors, meanwhile, is due tosucceed Simon Nicholls no later than Jan. 1 2017.
The company launched a 500 million pound emergency rightsissue in April after it was hit by delayed shipments in itsWireless communications business and due to lower demand fromoil and mining customers for flying services in Australia.
It posted trading profit of 102 million pounds ($136million) for the six months ended June 30, in line withdowngraded forecasts following the April profit warning.
Analysts currently expect Cobham to post a full-year tradingprofit of 295 million pounds.
CEO Bob Murphy said the company was on the mend.
"We're pleased with the second quarter results. Given wherewe started the year it's a good recovery and positions us wellfor the full-year," he told reporters, adding: "We still have alot of work to do in the second half."
The company's difficult recent performance - the stock haslost over a third of its value since the beginning of the yearagainst a 2 percent fall in Britain's midcap index - hasprompted recent media reports that Murphy could be sacked.
When asked, he said he hadn't been notified of anything:"I'm here I'm doing my job, my job is to deliver second halfresults and executing the strategy that's been approved by theboard," he said. (Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Mark Potter)
