EDO Corp had to file a financial report today 27 April 2006 that showed they lost $900,000 in their first quarter of business for 2006. EDO blamed the loss on a delay in orders for their Warlock troop protection system from the US defence department, but a closer look also reveals they have had to pay out 2.5 million dollars in legal costs.  http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=marketsNews&storyID=2006-04-27T115558Z_01_WEN5854_RTRIDST_0_ARMS-EDO-EARNS-URGENT.XML

In 2004 EDO Corp acquisition Merlin Inc. were found to be responsible for breaking US arms trading laws in deals with the Swedish and South Korean governments and forced to pay 1.5million in fines. EDO have also faced financial penalties for polluting the environment at a former manufacturing site in Deer Park, New York State.

The latest legal bill (at least $900,000 and counting ) has come from EDO’s UK subsidiary EDO MBM Technology Ltd in Brighton who have failed in a High Court bid to ban anti-war protests outside their factory and been forced to pay their own and defendants costs and expenses after a humilating surrender and a High Court judgement that ruled they had abused the legal process. This was a highly damaging political and financial loss that also led to national bad publicity for the company in the UK press, and a domino effect of collapsing criminal cases against protesters who could have raised questions

If EDO MBM had not taken the controversial action in the UK it is possible that EDO Corporation would not have dipped below the line between profit and loss and will now face the merciless response of their investors on the New York Stock Exchange.

Karma or simple cause and effect, whatever it is, a multi-national arms company have taken a beating after trying to suppress the right to protest in Brighton and Hove.

Let us be merry!