Cobham Regulatory News (COB)

5 November 2015

Trading Update

The Group's trading performance in the first nine months of the year broadly reflects the trends reported at Cobham's interim results.

Cobham has seen continued good progress on its aerial refuelling programmes, with the first flight of the Boeing KC-46 aerial refuelling tanker occurring at the end of September. The Group has also continued to make good progress with the Aeroflex integration, generating efficiencies from site integrations and from direct and indirect supply chain savings, and it remains on course to achieve the synergy benefits identified at the time of the acquisition.

However, the Group has experienced some market headwinds, largely impacting its shorter cycle businesses and, in particular, SATCOM. These have been driven primarily by underlying demand conditions in Asia-Pacific and continued weakness in oil and gas related markets. In addition, there have been delays in receiving some anticipated orders in the US Surveillance business.

As a result, Cobham anticipates that underlying earnings per share1 for the full year 2015 will be at the lower end of current market expectations which are in a range of 20.1p to 21.7p2. This would result in strong year-on-year Group underlying earnings per share growth of approximately 9%.

The Group continues to expect that the divestment of its composites businesses for US$200m in cash will complete before the year end. The transaction is a further step towards the simplification of Cobham's portfolio, bringing greater focus to its market leading positions.

The Group expects that net debt at the end of 2015 will be lower than at the prior year end, benefiting from the proceeds of the divestments completed in the year.

Cobham's preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2015 will be announced on 3 March 2016.

- ends -

ENQUIRIES

NOTES

1. The Group includes within its published statements non-GAAP measures including trading profit and underlying earnings results. Trading profit has been defined as operating profit from continuing operations excluding the impacts of business acquisition and divestment related activity and business restructuring costs as detailed below. Also excluded are changes in the marking to market of non-hedge accounted derivative financial instruments, impairments of intangible assets and items deemed by the Directors to be of an exceptional nature.

Business acquisition and divestment related items excluded from trading profit and underlying earnings include the amortisation of intangible assets recognised on acquisition, adjustments to businesses held for sale, the writing off of the pre-acquisition profit element of inventory written up on acquisition and other direct costs associated with business combinations and terminated divestments. Business restructuring costs relate to the restructuring of the Group's portfolio which are incremental to normal operations. In 2015, these relate primarily to the integration of the Aeroflex businesses acquired in 2014.

Underlying earnings are defined as trading profit less net underlying finance costs, which exclude acquisition related items, and after deducting associated taxation and non-controlling interests.

2. Company compiled market expectations for underlying earnings per share comprises forecasts from fifteen analysts who have updated numbers since the release of Cobham's interim 2015 results on 6 August 2015.

3. Cobham protects lives and livelihoods with its differentiated technology and know-how. The Group offers an innovative range of technologies and services to solve challenging problems across commercial, defence and security markets, from deep space to the depths of the ocean. It has market leading positions in air-to-air refuelling; aviation services; wireless; audio, video and data communications, including satellite communications; defence electronics; life support and mission equipment.

4. This document contains 'forward-looking statements' with respect to the financial condition, results of operations and business of Cobham and to certain of Cobham's plans and objectives with respect to these items.

Forward-looking statements are sometimes but not always identified by their use of a date in the future or such words as 'anticipates', 'aims', 'due', 'could', 'may', 'should', 'expects', 'believes', 'intends', 'plans', 'targets', 'goal', or 'estimates'. By their very nature forward-looking statements are inherently unpredictable, speculative and involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or will occur in the future.

There are various factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, changes in the economies, political situations and markets in which the Group operates; changes in government priorities due to programme reviews or revisions to strategic objectives; changes in the regulatory or competition frameworks in which the Group operates; the impact of legal or other proceedings against or which affect the Group; changes to or delays in programmes in which the Group is involved; the completion of acquisitions and divestitures and changes in commodity prices, inflation or exchange rates.

All written or verbal forward-looking statements, made in this document or made subsequently, which are attributable to Cobham or any other member of the Group or persons acting on their behalf, are expressly qualified in their entirety by the factors referred to above. Cobham does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.