As coincidence would have it, there were trading updates yesterday from Meggitt, Cobham and Airbus. Not only did this keep the engineering analysts busy, it also allowed a degree of comparison to be made between the first two, both based in Dorset, both having had a difficult time in recent years and rather too many profit warnings, and both on well-established recovery trajectories.
This column has already taken a positive view on Cobham this year after the second rescue rights issue to reduce debt. Meggitt is one of the tips for the year and is further down the recovery track.
The first-quarter update was a little light on detail, but the company was unexpectedly informative in its results for last year at the