London, July 2, 2026, 21:01 (BST)
- London Stock Exchange opened for normal trading on July 2, with the usual 08:00-16:30 BST hours. July 2 was not a UK market holiday.
- Fidelity showed Cohort at 1,438p to sell and 1,446p to buy, up 7.32%. The FTSE All-Share was up 1.51%.
- Cohort has a record order book at around £620 million, which comes out to about 93% of its £665.56 million market cap on Google Finance.
- Full-year 2026 results are due July 15. In its May update, the company said the order book stands at about £253 million. That amount is about 80% of expected FY27 revenues.
Cohort plc (LON:CHRT) jumped Thursday, but traders focused on its order book against the company’s market cap. Fidelity quoted the defence tech stock at 1,438p to sell and 1,446p to buy at 16:47 BST. Google Finance showed a £665.56 million market cap. Cohort’s trading update listed a closing order book of about £620 million.
A July 1 voting rights update listed issued share capital at 47,046,227 ordinary shares with one vote per share. There are no treasury shares. This sets a new denominator for calculating market cap ahead of the July 15 full-year results.
| Measure | Latest figure | Read-through |
|---|---|---|
| Fidelity quote | Sell at 1,438p, buy at 1,446p | Shares up 7.32% today |
| FTSE All-Share | +1.51% | Cohort moved ahead of the UK index |
| Google Finance market cap | £665.56 mln | Market value after the gain |
| Record order book | c.£620 mln | Comes to 93% of market cap |
| 52-week range | 881.10p-1,796p | Shares still under last year’s top |
The ratio matters as Cohort isn’t simply trading as a small AIM defence supplier with improving orders anymore. Investors are now watching if a near-market-cap backlog can translate into better margins, more cash, and growth overseas.
| FY26 item | Cohort update | Comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | £303 mln | Consensus sat at £293.9 mln |
| Adjusted operating profit | About £36 mln | Consensus was £34.7 mln |
| Order intake | Roughly £313 mln | £284 mln recorded in FY25 |
| Closing order book | Around £620 mln | £615 mln at the end of FY25 |
| FY27 revenue covered by order book | Close to £253 mln | About 80% of what’s expected |
| Communications & Intelligence margin | Near 20% | Was 16.8% last year |
| Sensors & Effectors margin | About 7% | 8.6% in FY25 |
The story is all about the split. Communications & Intelligence posted £159 million revenue, margins up near 20% thanks in part to a full-year from EM Solutions. Sensors & Effectors stayed flat at £144 million, but margin slipped to about 7%. Cohort put that down to careful booking on ELAC’s Italian sonar contract plus losing the higher-margin SEA transport business.
Chief Executive Andrew Thomis said in May that “Cohort performed strongly in 2025/26, exceeding market expectations.” He added that “the high level of order cover provides confidence” for FY27. Thomis also said EM Solutions made a “strong maiden full year contribution.” Investegate
UK demand is harder to read. Thomis told Reuters this week that a missing UK defence investment plan makes it “really difficult for the MOD to contract new programmes.” He noted rising demand from Germany, Poland, the Nordics and the Baltics. Britain’s share of Cohort revenue is now under 50%, down from 80% a few years ago. Reuters
The contract list backs up the change. Equity Development said Cohort named around £87.1 million in specific FY26 contracts. That includes a €42.3 million EID deal for comms gear for the Portuguese Navy and an A$21.7 million EM Solutions contract for satellite terminals on Portuguese frigates. Its note put total announced FY26 orders and contracts at about £140 million.
Equity Development’s Mike Jeremy and Andy Edmond, in research marked as marketing, left Cohort’s fair value at 1,930p and said a better review would come with the FY26 results. LSEG data for Investors Chronicle showed six analysts with a 12-month target median of 1,525p, with targets ranging from 1,300p to 1,750p.
Cash is key for July 15. Cohort ended FY26 with net funds at about £2.9 million after showing H1 net debt of £32.5 million, but said over £6 million in receipts slipped to early May. The July report will need to confirm if that H2 cash held up, and if Sensors & Effectors can move toward the group’s mid-term margin goal.
