Cobham’s Flying Circus made its name in the 1930s with death-defying aerobatic stunts. The past 14 months have been a circus of a more sobering variety for the maker of air-to-air refuelling kit, whose founder, Sir Alan Cobham, used to wow crowds with his aerial prowess. Now it specialises in nosedives of the financial variety; since 2015 there have four profit warnings.
Last week shares in the Dorset-based company plunged almost 20% in a day as it scrapped its dividend and said it would miss profits forecasts by about £20m. I wouldn’t bet on that being the end of this sorry run.
Cobham’s new chief executive, David Lockwood, and finance director David Mellors do not know how deep its problems are — although after working