of the defense industry group listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange I got it the result was better than market expectations, and the company’s strong order book growth surprised again.
In July–September, the order book grew by 41 percent from the comparison period a year ago and was SEK 21.2 billion. This was more than the consensus of analyst forecasts compiled by Infront, which expected an order backlog of only around 18 billion kroner.
The turnover in July–September 2024 was SEK 13.54 billion, while it was SEK 11.5 billion in July–September a year ago. The consensus of analysts’ forecasts compiled by Infront expected revenue of 13.54 billion kroner. Sales increased in all of Saab’s business areas.
Saab’s operating profit was 1.18 billion kroner, compared to 859 million kroner in the comparison period. Operating profit was slightly better than Infront’s analyst forecast of 1.13 billion kunas. The earnings per share rose to SEK 1.79. In July–September last year, it was 1.21 kroner. Analysts expected earnings per share of SEK 1.58.
“Demand will continue to grow as European countries replenish their defense supplies, which requires long-term investments,” says Saab’s CEO Michael Johansson according to the results release. “This can be seen in our strong order backlog growth in the third quarter. We are growing in order to meet growing demand, for example by investing in capacity, automating our production and building new factories. While we are growing strongly, we are also improving our profitability.”
The company keeps its forecast unchanged for the whole year. It expects turnover to grow by 15–20 percent during the year, turnover growth exceeding the growth rate of operating profit, and positive operating cash flow. So far, turnover has increased by 21 percent, profit by 30 percent, and cash flow is minus 534 million kroner.
Source: www.arvopaperi.fi
