Thales Forecasts Continued Sales Growth After Defense Spending Pushes Orders to New High

By Mauro Orru

Thales expects strong sales growth this year after rising military spending pushed orders above analysts' expectations to a record high, it said.

The French aerospace-and-defense company on Tuesday posted 18.43 billion euros ($20.01 billion) in sales for 2023, up 4.9% in reported terms and 7.9% organically.

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.

Net profit slipped 9% to EUR1.02 billion, while adjusted net profit--on which Thales bases its dividend policy--climbed 14% to EUR1.77 billion. Thales said it would propose a dividend of EUR3.40 a share for 2023, above the EUR2.94 per share it paid for the previous year.

Earnings before interest and taxes--another closely watched measure of profitability--rose to EUR2.13 billion from EUR1.94 billion in 2022, generating a 11.6% margin. This year, the group is expecting an EBIT margin of between 11.7% and 12%.

Free operating cash flow fell to EUR2.03 billion from EUR2.53 billion.

Analysts had forecast sales of EUR18.18 billion, an order intake of EUR20.65 billion, an adjusted net profit of EUR1.68 billion, EBIT of EUR2.11 billion and free operating cash flow of EUR1.62 billion, according to a market consensus provided by the company.

Write to Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 05, 2024 01:24 ET (06:24 GMT)

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