defense industry
German arms company Rheinmetall increases sales
Against the background of the Ukraine war, Germany’s largest armaments group, Rheinmetall, has increased its business significantly. In 2022, sales were around 6.4 billion euros.
The German armaments group Rheinmetall increased sales significantly in the past year. One reason for this is arms deliveries to Ukraine. (Archive image)
That was 13 percent more than in 2021, the company announced on Friday based on preliminary figures. This does not include the piston business, some of which has already been sold.
Growth has thus accelerated, in 2021 sales had only increased by around 5 percent. In terms of operating profit, the group expects an increase of more than 20 percent for 2022, which would be significantly more than 700 million euros. The final figures are to be presented on March 16th.
Organically – i.e. without currency effects and acquisitions or sales – sales increased by only 10 percent last year. That was less than the forecast 15 percent. The company justified this unexpectedly weak development with the fact that it had invested a lot. Already finished goods are still in stock and the call by customers is postponed to 2023.
An example of such preliminary work is older Marder armored personnel carriers that have been or are being modernized by Rheinmetall. According to a decision by the federal government, Germany could soon make these vehicles available to Ukraine.
Rheinmetall has also already extensively manufactured ammunition because, given the consequences of the Ukraine war and the increased demand, their sale appears certain. In addition, Rheinmetall spent a lot of money to increase its stocks of important preliminary products – such as semiconductors.
Rheinmetall is also active as an automotive supplier. In this division, the company faced headwinds as global auto production slowed.
The group has around 25,000 employees. Rheinmetall manufactures artillery, tanks, anti-aircraft, military trucks and ammunition. The head office is in Düsseldorf and the largest German plant in Unterlüss in Lower Saxony.
(SDA)