Cobham sees revenue decline in 2014 as profits fall

LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) - British defence supplier Cobham posted a 4 percent fall in 2013 pretax profit, and said it still expects a single digit fall in revenue this year against a challenging U.S. defence spending backdrop and foreign currency headwinds.

The company, a pioneer of in-flight refuelling, said on Thursday underlying profit before tax for the year to end-December fell to 288 million pounds ($482 million), from 300 million pounds in 2013. Revenues rose by 2 percent to 1.79 billion pounds.

Analysts had forecast Cobham (Other OTC: CBHMF - news) to report a pretax profit in a range of 165-288.5 million pounds, according to Reuters data, on revenues of 1.78 billion pounds.

The company said it continues to plan for group organic revenue to decline by low-to-mid single digits in 2014, with a return to revenue growth from 2015.

It also raised its full year dividend per share by 10 percent to 9.68 pence, continuing its progressive dividend policy.