(Alliance News) - Meggitt PLC on Tuesday said its performance in the first half of 2020 was hurt by the coronavirus pandemic as it swung to loss.
The aerospace and defence company reported revenue for the six months to the end of June of GBP917 million, down 13% when compared to the prior year's GBP1.07 billion. Meggitt swung to pretax loss of GBP368 million compared to GBP73 million profit delivered a year prior.
The performance of the company reflects the unprecedented impact of Covid-19 on the civil aerospace sector, Meggitt said, with revenue slightly ahead of guidance in its July 2 trading update.
"We had a very challenging second quarter in which we acted fast, executed well operationally and took action to position the group for the recovery in civil aerospace," said Chief Executive Tony Wood.
Meggit said it will not pay an interim dividend, having paid a 5.55 pence a share a year earlier.
Looking forward, Wood added: "We are still working through a difficult and uncertain Covid-19 environment, and while it's too early to precisely predict the trajectory of the return to prior levels of activity in civil aerospace, we continue to focus on ensuring that the business is well positioned to benefit from the recovery. Based on the effective actions we've taken to strengthen liquidity and the resilience of the group, underpinned by our diverse end market exposure and strong market positions, we believe we are well placed to benefit from the recovery and to continue the transformation of Meggitt to deliver long-term, profitable growth."
Meggitt shares were trading 2.8% lower in London on Tuesday at 291.20 pence each.
By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com
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