Leonardo, net profits climb to 78 million

Rome - Defence and aerospace giant Leonardo concluded its first quarter of the year gaining €78 million in operating profit (equal to a 39% rise, or 21.9% not including special transactions), and its orders gained €2,647 billion, a 3% rise compared to the same period in 2016. Order intake rose by 25% compared with March 2016.

The news, which was announced by the group in a statement, pointed out that EBITA and EBIT saw “significant gains” (+14% and +16%, respectively), while the firm’s return on sales increased to 7.6%. Net debt stood at 3.25 billion, down 22.7%, thanks to the positive financial performance.

Revenues reached €2,476 billion, a 2.4% contraction compared to the first quarter of 2016, “due to a reduction in revenues in the helicopter division, and to the negative effect of the sterling-euro exchange rate,” Leonardo explained.

The statement continued, “in view of the results obtained in the first quarter, and expectations for Q2, we can confirm the guidance for the entire year, as set out in the financial outlook formulated on 31 December 2016.”

The intake of new orders in the first three months of 2017, “demonstrate real growth, attributable mainly to good performance in the aeronautics business (+25%), which was boosted by orders for support services to the EFA aircraft fleet in the aircraft division, and to the B787 and ATR programmes in the aircraft components division.”

Also notable was the “good performance of the helicopter division (+20%) when compared to a significantly negative performance in 2016, although the present context remains characterized by uncertainty and difficulties experienced by some target markets, faced by a slump in the defence electronics and security systems sector.”