LONDON (ShareCast) - Jet parts maker Meggitt stayed tight-lipped about takeover speculation at this week's Farnborough Air Show, but pledged to stay on the acquisition trail.

Meggitt, which makes braking systems and wheels for civil and military aircraft, faced talk at the show in southern England that US industrial group United Technologies Corp may offer 625p a share for the group.

The Bournemouth-based company declined to respond to the rumours.

"We don't comment on speculation or press reports," the group's Head of Investor Relations Richard Cashin told ShareCast in an interview.

But asked whether Meggitt was confident of its future as an independent company, Cashin said the company had acted as a "consolidator" in the industry in the last decade and hoped to remain so.

Meggitt has made several acquisitions over the years including aerospace control business Whittaker Controls in 1999, Dunlop Aerospace in 2004, K&F Industries in 2007 and Pacific Scientific Aviation Services in 2011, as well as a couple of smaller bolt-on acquisitions.

Cashin said: "We continue to view mergers and acquisitions as very much a core part of our growth strategy."

Strong pound

As well as making parts for new commercial and military aircraft such as the Embraer Phenom 100 executive jet, Meggitt supplies spare parts and maintenance services to the after-sales market and to the energy industry.

The group said in May that trading in the first four months of the year had met expectations but warned that the strong pound against the dollar, euro and Swiss franc would affect revenue.

Rising oil prices, a profit warning from Air France-KLM, the cancellation of an Airbus A350 order by Emirates and an engine fire on the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter have all focused investors' minds at Farnborough.

But Cashin said Meggitt was not particularly concerned about individual events because of the cushion offered by the number of aircraft programmes it is involved in.

"From a military and civil perspective, we're pretty much on everything that flies," Cashin said. "We're not overly exposed to any one particular programme."

Cashin said Farnborough had produced some good orders for Airbus and Boeing, which meant good news for suppliers Meggitt in the longer term.

He added that high oil prices could be positive for the supply industry because it puts pressure on airlines to keep their fleets as fuel-efficient as possible.

Cashin also said airlines and the aircraft financing market were benefiting from a low cost of capital due to relatively low interest rates.

"I don't think there are many airlines out there that have overstretched their balance sheets," he said.

Shares closed up 9.5p or 1.8% at 546.5p in London.

PW

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