MORE than 520 workers at the Hampshire factory of a south coast defence giant have seen its profits shoot up over the half-year.

Pre-tax profits for Cobham, a flight refuelling specialist, rose by 16.4 per cent to £62.3m, while orders bulged by nearly 35 per cent to £528m. Revenue also swelled, up 19.6 per cent to £461.5m.

Staff at Cobham's HiTemp factory at Titchfield, near Fareham, are involved in fluid and air distribution projects such as variable frequency fuel pumps for the A380, the world's biggest passenger planes.