19 Jan 11. Cobham plc has acquired the share capital of Telerob GmbH , a privately-owned German-based manufacturer of advanced bomb disposal robots and threat response vehicles for E€78m. Telerob manufactures medium and heavy-weight Explosive Ordnance Device (EOD) robots and response vehicles designed to deal with nuclear, biological and chemical threats primarily for homeland security markets. The company has more than 700 systems in 55 countries, with many systems in operation in Asia and the Middle East where it has established itself as a market leader. Cobham will be able to integrate its technology into Telerob systems, including communications equipment and sensors that it already provides for the EOD market along with specialist cameras manufactured by another recently acquired company, RVision. This will enable the Group to develop more distinctive and competitive systems, as well as increasing the value to Cobham of each system sold.
Telerob employs 80 staff, half of whom are engaged in R&D, and its skills base and technology are highly complementary to Cobham’s. The company will become part of Cobham’s Mission Equipment business unit and will significantly strengthen the Group’s ability to deliver market-leading robot products to fast-growing homeland security markets around the world. Cobham Mission Equipment has more than 20 years’ experience working on unmanned, remote systems, from the Phoenix UAV to the latest generation of autonomous air-to-air refuelling systems.

18 Jan 11. Meggitt, the British engineering group, is to buy Pacific Scientific Aerospace in a $685m (£428m) deal that will boost the company’s role in supplying components to aircraft programmes, including Boeing’s 787 and Airbus’s A380. The deal will be funded by a share placing of about $400m, with the remainder paid from Meggitt’s existing debt facilities. (Source: FT.com)

18 Jan 11. CHEMRING GROUP PLC, PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2010
• Revenue up 18% to £597.1m (2009: £503.9m)
• Underlying operating profit* up 18% to £135.6m (2009: £114.7m)
• Year end order book up 44% at £803.3m (2009: £559.0m)
• Order book today at new record high of £902m, up 54% on January 2010
• Underlying profit before tax* up 14% to £116.8m (2009: £102.6m)
• Underlying earnings per share* up 15% at 246p (2009: 213p)
• Profit before tax £89.1m (2009: £95.8m)
• Basic earnings per share 189p (2009: 199p)
• Dividend per ordinary share up 18% at 59p (2009: 50p)
• Underlying operating cashflow** up 18% to £126.1m (2009: £106.7m)
• Net debt of £307.5m (2009: £122.8m)
• New four year unsecured bank facilities of £230m completed on 14 January 2011, which together with the US private placement provides total borrowing facilities of £491m.
DIVISIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
Countermeasures
• Steady growth in revenue, up 7% to £196.3m
• Revenue at Kilgore increased 17% to new record of £47m
• 70% growth in naval countermeasures to £17m
Counter-IED
• Outstanding performance from NIITEK, with revenue up 124% to £102m
• Strong growth driven by HMDS sales to US and Canadian Armies
• Order book stands at £99m, more than double last year
• Acquisition of Roke provides us with a wide range of technologies for the Counter-IED market.

18 Jan 11. A surge in demand for equipment that detects roadside bombs has boosted sales at Chemring, the defence group, pushing the company’s order book to a record high. Chemring’s counter-IED division saw the fastest growth in the company, with sales increasing by 124 per cent to £102m, accounting for just under 20 per cent of turnover. The group has seen strong US demand for its mine-detection systems, which use ground-penetrating radar panels that are placed on the front of armoured vehicles to detect roadside bombs in Afghanistan.
David Price, Chemring chief executive, said that even after next year’s delivery of a further 64 such systems, there was still potential for more revenues from th