Cobham first-half profit down 14 pct on lower defence spending

LONDON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - British defence company Cobham posted a 14 percent decline in half-year profit, hit by lower defence spending and foreign exchange headwinds, and said it was on track to meet current expectations for the full year.

Western defence firms are being squeezed as their biggest customers in the United States and Europe reduce spending amid a withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq.

Forecasting a full-year performance weighted to the second half, Cobham (Other OTC: CBHMF - news) said it was maintaining its guidance for organic revenue decline in the low-to-mid single digits this year, with a return to growth in 2015.

Cobham reported underlying pretax profit of 118 million pounds ($199 million) in the six months to the end of June, compared to the 137 million pounds it made in the same period last year, and ahead of a consensus forecast of 111 million pounds from an analyst poll.

($1 = 0.5938 British Pounds) (Reporting by Sarah Young, Editing by Paul Sandle)