Rheinmetall moving towards order backlog of 30 billion euros, CEO says

Rheinmetall moving towards order backlog of 30 billion euros, CEO says

World

Rheinmetall moving towards order backlog of 30 billion euros, CEO says

DUESSELDORF (Reuters) - German arms maker Rheinmetall (RHMG.DE) had a record year in 2022 and is approaching an order backlog of 30 billion euros, CEO Armin Papperger told Reuters in an interview.

“In 2022, we had a very good year, a record year,” he said, saying that the fourth quarter would even beat good third quarter results.

“We are approaching an order backlog of 30 billion euros, and I expect to see an order backlog of 40 billion euros next year,” said the CEO of the company, which sells a whole range of defence products but is probably most famous for supplying the 120mm gun of the Leopard 2 tank.

Papperger said he expected to see at least 15% to 20% growth in Rheinmetall’s defence division over the coming years, with the civilian business likely to account for only 20% of sales in 2025.

On Tuesday, Papperger had nudged up the group’s mid-term sales outlook in anticipation of a windfall from higher defence spending due to the war in Ukraine.

Rheinmetall expects sales to grow to 11 billion-12 billion euros ($12 billion -$13 billion) in 2025, he told German magazine Stern.

The projection is higher than the 10 billion-11 billion euro range Rheinmetall gave during its capital markets day in November. For 2022, the company expects 6.5 billion euros in sales.

Rheinmetall is seen as a strong candidate for moving up into Germany’s main stock index DAX.