Cobham says US defence spending decline is easing

Aerospace engineer Cobham predicted lower revenue this year but said it was trading in line with hopes and stuck to forecasts for higher revenue in 2015.Cobham, which makes avionics and other technology for the civil aerospace and defence industries, said it continued to expect organic revenue to fall by low to mid-single digits in 2014.It blamed ongoing turbulence in defence and security markets, which have been hit by government spending cuts in the US and Europe.But it said it was seeing strong growth in commercial markets, underpinned by big order backlogs at aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing, among others.Cobham also said the decline in defence business in the US was easing as more certainty emerges over budgets."On the basis of a moderating rate of decline in the US defence/security market, increasing revenue from non-US defence/security markets and continued strong growth in commercial markets, the board continues to anticipate Cobham can achieve mid-single digit organic revenue growth from 2015," it said in a trading update for the first nine months of the year.At the end of September Cobham's net debt had increased to £1.2bn from £300m in June, driven by the $1.5bn acquisition of Aeroflex, which makes test equipment, microwave integrated circuits and other parts for wireless communications.Shares in Cobham rose 3.9p or 1.3% to 293.4p at 09:56 in London.