European weapons manufacturers ended 2023 on a high note, with rising sales and profit in a year marked by wars and geopolitical instability that they expect will continue to translate into orders in the coming months.


-- Germany's Rheinmetall on Thursday said it expects sales of around 10 billion euros ($10.95 billion) this year compared with EUR7.18 billion in 2023. The forecast, above analysts' EUR9.64 billion projection for 2024, marks an improvement of roughly EUR2.82 billion on year and the first time in its history that sales are expected to reach the EUR10 billion threshold. Rheinmetall's net profit increased to EUR535 million last year from EUR474 million in 2022. Operating profit--more closely watched by analysts and investors--rose to EUR918 million from EUR769 million. Rheinmetall expects an operating margin between 14% and 15% in 2024, above the 12.8% it posted for last year.


-- Italy's Leonardo on March 12 said it expects new orders will continue to grow this year through to 2028, led by its core defense electronics and security business. New orders should increase to roughly EUR22.6 billion in 2028 from EUR17.93 billion in 2023, with a total of about EUR105 billion in cumulative orders for the period. Leonardo's defense electronics and security business accounted for the lion's share of new orders last year, contributing EUR9.72 billion to the total. Revenue is expected to grow to about EUR21.3 billion in 2028 from EUR15.29 billion in 2023.


-- France's Thales on March 5 said it expects strong sales growth this year after rising military spending drove orders above analysts' expectations to a record high. The group posted 18.43 billion euros ($20.18 billion) in sales for 2023, up 4.9% in reported terms and 7.9% organically. Sales at Thales's defense and security business grew 7.5% organically to EUR9.80 billion, accounting for the lion's share of revenue. This year, Thales is projecting sales between EUR19.7 billion and EUR20.1 billion, up 4% to 6% organically. Thales's order intake last year came to EUR23.13 billion, down 2% in reported terms but up 0.2% organically. Its defense and security business contributed EUR14.14 billion to the total. Meanwhile, the group's order book at end of December rose 11% to EUR45.25 billion. Analysts had forecast 2023 sales of EUR18.18 billion and an order intake of EUR20.65 billion, according to a market consensus provided by the company.


-- The U.K's BAE Systems said on Feb. 21 that sales should grow 10% to 12% in 2024 compared with the 25.28 billion pounds ($32.35 billion) that it reported for 2023. That compares with analysts' GBP24.75 billion forecast for last year, according to a market consensus provided by the company. The group's order intake rose to GBP37.7 billion in 2023 from GBP37.1 billion the previous year, with an order book at Dec. 31 of GBP58 billion, compared with GBP48.9 billion previously.


-- Sweden's Saab on Feb. 9 posted a rise in fourth-quarter earnings and raised its dividend as global defense spending continues to surge. Net profit climbed to 1.22 billion kronor ($119.3 million) from SEK1.12 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022. Order bookings in the quarter rose 5.5% to SEK31.5 billion, above analysts' SEK20.1 billion forecast, while Saab's order backlog stood at SEK153.41 billion, up from SEK127.68 billion a year earlier. Sales rose 16% to SEK16.12 billion. Saab targets 2024 organic sales growth of between 12% and 16%.


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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-14-24 1104ET