Cobham H1 profit drops, on track to meet FY forecasts

LONDON, Aug 4 (Reuters) - British aerospace and defence company Cobham (Other OTC: CBHMF - news) reported a plunge in first-half profit, as expected, after difficulties in its communications unit, and said it was on track to meet full-year expectations as earnings improve over the period.

Cobham on Thursday posted trading profit of 102 million pounds ($136 million) for the six months ended June 30, a 36 percent drop compared with last year.

The company launched a 500 million pound emergency rights issue in April after its profit was hit by delayed shipments in its Wireless business and due to lower demand from oil and mining customers for flying services in Australia.

($1 = 0.7518 pounds) (Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Mark Potter)