(Reuters) - British aircraft parts maker Meggitt (LON:MGGT) Plc flagged a possible "material" write down on a Russian aircraft program in the next 12 months on Thursday amid the Ukraine crisis, after posting a lower annual profit hit by supply disruptions.
The company, a component supplier for aircraft makers including Boeing (NYSE:BA) and Airbus, has been trying to mitigate supply chain disruptions, curtail lead times and look for alternatives for electronic parts due to pandemic-related hindrances.
"As we look ahead, and notwithstanding that the recovery in civil aerospace is likely to remain uneven in the short-term, the outlook and long-term fundamentals for our civil aerospace business remain positive," Chief Executive Officer Tony Wood said.
Meggitt is one of the suppliers to Russia-based Irkut's MC-21 aircraft development programme, which is due to enter service this year. Irkut's parent firm United Aircraft Corporation is majority owned by Rostec, Russia's state aerospace and defence conglomerate.
Senior Plc (LON:SNR), which supplies cabin air circulation systems for the MC-21, also said earlier this week that the Ukraine-Russia crisis could affect sales to that programme.
Another British aerospace supplier Melrose separately said on Thursday that it was reviewing the timing of its returns to shareholders as global markets reel from the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Meggitt said underlying operating profit was 177.3 million pounds ($237.62 million) for the year ending Dec. 31, compared with 190.5 million pounds a year earlier.
Meggitt, which also supplies wheel and brake systems for military fighter programmes, said its 6.3 billion pound deal with U.S. peer Parker-Hannifin was on track to close in the third quarter of this year.
The company's takeover by Parker-Hannifin is still under the regulatory scanner, with Britain probing the transaction over national security concerns.
($1 = 0.7462 pounds)