Failed chief at Cobham handed £1m

THE former boss of defence firm Cobham will walk away with a payoff worth nearly £1m despite his disastrous tenure at the engineer.

Bob Murphy will get one year’s salary and a lump sum after stepping down in December following a string of profit warnings and a rights issue.

His contract entitles him to a payoff of a year’s basic pay – around £750,000 – plus about £200,000 to move back to his native US with his family.

But the 59-year-old former chief executive and his ex-chief financial officer Simon Nicholls will not be getting any bonuses after the pay committee decided not to reward them for a ‘very disappointing and challenging year’.

The firm has struggled since an accounting scandal, a tough market, overpriced purchase of a US rival and problems with a contract for Boeing.

Last month, Murphy’s replacement David Lockwood issued its fifth profit warning in less than two years and then a second £500m rights issue.

Shares yesterday rose 1.7pc, or 2.2p, to 130.4p.