Cobham boss ‘no regrets’ as he launches £500m issue

Cobham chief executive David Lockwood has “no regrets” about joining the struggling group as he tapped investors for an extra £500 million.

Lockwood, in place for 11 weeks, has launched a jumbo rights issue — Cobham’s second in a year — to strengthen the defence supplier’s balance sheet instead of dismantling the company by selling off assets.

“No one is ever happy with a rights issue but a fire sale would be a bad idea”, he said. “I haven’t found any business since I’ve got here that I think is a dog. They all have value.”

The former Laird executive said Cobham, which produced five profit warnings in 15 months, would start to improve in six months but it would take two years to fully fix the group.

“My enthusiasm for what we could become has grown, I don’t get disappointed,” he said.