Meggitt says it's exploring options after equity raising speculation

Defence engineering firm Meggitt insisted on Thursday that its financial position is "strong" as it said it was considering its options following a press report that it is looking at an equity offering to counter the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

Meggitt said it has continued to trade in line with its internal expectations.

"While there have been initial signs of a recovery in the civil aerospace sector, considerable uncertainty remains in relation to Covid-19," it said. "Against this backdrop, the group continues to review a range of trading scenarios and associated actions to mitigate any material adverse change to the industry outlook."

The company said its current financial position and liquidity "remain strong". At 30 June, it had £1.7bn of committed facilities in place providing headroom of £856m. It also has access to additional liquidity as an eligible issuer under the Bank of England's Covid Corporate Financing Facility.

The statement came after Bloomberg reported that the company was considering selling as much as $600m of new stock in preparation for another wave of the coronavirus outbreak.

At 0820 BST, the shares were down 6.8% at 275.11p.