Rheinmetall on 8 May released its financial results for Q1 FY2020, which showed a strong performance despite the impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
This performance was reinforced by the growth of the Defence division which saw significant sales increase by 18% compared to the same period in FY2019 to €740 million ($800 million).
Order backlogs also increased by 13% to €10.3 billion.
Overall, Rheinmetall increased consolidated sales by 1.1% to €1.36 billion but the effects of COVID-19 reduced operational earnings from €54 million to €34 million. However, Defence tripled its operating earnings to €29 million.
Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall, said: ‘Our Defence sector has proven robust and resilient under these challenging macroeconomic circumstances and will help us to soften the impact of the crisis at the Group level.’
Papperger added that: ‘This is currently expected to remain the case over the further course of the year, too.’
The initial document focused more on creating the right partnerships and inspiring investment in defence than on any details of how future UK Armed Forces would be armed.
The first stage of developing a new UK Defence Industrial Strategy has highlighted failings in current structures with solutions expected to be proposed in next year’s full strategy.
Romania joined NATO more than two decades ago and the country is vital to the alliance’s geographic reach and its ability to supply Ukraine with weapons.
Although Trump’s geopolitics policy for Europe remains unclear, defence analysts from the US and Europe predict how his incoming administration would attempt to handle critical issues on the continent.
The UK budget announced in Parliament on 30 October was the first by a Labour government in 14 years which has also launched a review into defence procurement programmes.
The Australian government has placed a focus on Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) which has included the purchase of additional long-range rocket systems and investments in local production of missiles.
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