Cobham profit soars

LONDON (Reuters) - Aerospace company Cobham (COB.L) on Tuesday posted a 9.1 percent rise in underlying pretax profit for the six months to June 30 citing better operational efficiencies.

Profit before tax rose to 86.1 million pounds, Cobham said in a statement.

Revenues of 493.8 million pounds were down 4.5 percent, Cobham said.

Cobham proposed an interim dividend of 1.22 pence, up 10 percent from the same period a year earlier, and said acquisitions remained a key element of its growth plans.