With sales up 16 percent to 6.4 billion euros and record earnings of 754 million euros (up 27 percent), the 2022 financial year was extremely successful for the Rheinmetall armaments group. With an order backlog of 26.6 billion euros, the highest so far, the management wants to propose a dividend of 4.30 euros per share at the annual general meeting in May. As it was also said at a company press conference last week, group sales increased in all five divisions, but above all in Vehicle Systems and Weapon and Ammunition.
The largest division, Vehicle Systems, was able to increase sales by 21 percent to 2.3 billion euros. Rheinmetall named the Lynx infantry fighting vehicle for Hungary, the unprotected transport vehicles (UTF) and the swap-body systems for the German armed forces and the Boxer CRV wheeled armored vehicle for Australia as sales drivers. The result grew by almost half to 174 million euros.
The order book includes, among other things, an additional 100 Boxers for Great Britain, several ring exchange programs and truck programs for the German armed forces, which led to an increase of 1.6 billion euros.
The Weapon and Ammunition division achieved a sales increase of 19 percent to 1.5 billion euros. The South African subsidiary Rheinmetall Denel Munition (Pty) Ltd contributed two thirds of this growth. The Protection Systems business unit also made an additional contribution with its activities in the field of military protection systems. It was able to increase its revenues primarily through supplies for armored truck driver's cabs.
Earnings jumped 40 percent to a record 306 million euros. The division booked new orders worth EUR 2.98 billion, more than twice as much as in the previous year.
Sales in the Electronic Solutions division increased by 14 percent to 1.1 billion euros. Important projects include the Lynx armored personnel carrier for Hungary, the Boxer CRV for Australia, infantry equipment for the German armed forces and anti-aircraft systems, including Skynex. The result rose by 20 percent to 118 million euros. The order backlog grew by 1.6 billion euros, including a 219 million euro order from the Bundeswehr special fund for combat helmets.
For the 2023 fiscal year, Rheinmetall is forecasting continued strong growth in sales and earnings and is targeting consolidated sales of between EUR 7.4 and 7.6 billion with a roughly equal return on earnings of twelve percent.
Editors / gwh
Related topics
Rheinmetall with stable sales in the first quarter Rheinmetall continues its upward trend Rheinmetall continues to grow Uninterrupted growth at Rheinmetall Rheinmetall on course for profitable growth Positive half-year results 2019 at Airbus, MTU Aero Engines and Rheinmetall Rheinmetall Defense with improved earnings and strong order intake Rheinmetall with stable sales and improved earnings Rheinmetall AG with a record year