Meggitt PLC (LON:MGGT) has tightened up its profit guidance for 2020 despite not seeing the improvement in civil aerospace it had hoped for in the final quarter.
Underlying operating profit will be in the middle of the £180mln-£200mln range provided in November on revenue of £1.7bn, the aerospace, defence and energy engineer told investors in a statement on Friday.
Group free cash flow was positive for the year, it said, helping cut net debt below the level at the end of 2019.
Trading across the FTSE 250-listed group’s end markets in the final quarter was “broadly in line with the trends experienced in October”.
Once coronavirus vaccines have been rolled out, Meggit said it is “well placed for the recovery” as it expects pent-up demand for air travel to fuel a bounce back for civil aerospace in 2021.
“However, given the logistical challenges associated with a global vaccine roll-out, we expect this positive development will take time to feed through into growth in flight and passenger numbers and aftermarket activity levels,” the FTSE 250 firm concluded.