Cobham pledges to relaunch dividend but shares still drop

Aerospace supplier Cobham promised to restart its dividend for the first time in three years on Thursday but slow growth at its fighter jet radar division weighed on shares.

The Boeing and Airbus supplier, led by chief executive David Lockwood, expects to make a small, 1p per share payout at interim results.

The company halted payments in 2016 after a string of profit warnings, the first time in nearly 50 years Cobham had not paid a dividend.

The dividend is a sign the firm is on the mend. Free cash flow also surprised coming in at £63 million, well ahead of City expectations of £10 million.

Despite the payout, shares fell 2% to 117.5p due to poor results in its division which makes jet radars.

Guidance on a “range of potential outcomes” for 2019 also did not satisfy some analysts hoping for a more upbeat outlook.