Meggitt Plc, an aerospace, defense and energy company, said today that the first quarter business of the company was badly hit by continued weak demand for aircraft.

The company further said that it is expecting to return to growth in the second half of the year. Meggitt said that the first half trading was in line with the expectations of the company as it was anticipating a challenging first half. Meggitt also said that the civil aerospace market is expected to grow in the second half of the year and the company is well placed to take advantage of it.

Also, the commercial aircraft utilization is showing some early signs of recovery and the company expects increased orders in the next few months. "The main driver of our civil aftermarket, commercial aircraft utilization is showing modest early signs of recovery, which is expected to flow through to increased orders in the next few months," said Terry Twigger, Chief Executive of Meggitt.

The military markets of Meggitt showed a slow start in the first half and that was due to the delays in releasing budget funding. But, the group said that it is confident enough to see growing military revenues in the remaining second half of the year 2010. Meggitt also expects to reduce its cost by £50 million per year with the help of its transformation program by the end of 2010.