(Editor’s note: Rheinmetall reported their quarterly financial information in Euros. This story uses the conversion rate to the U.S. dollar as of Aug. 8, 2024.)
Rheinmetall reported a 33% sales increase for the first half of 2024, a $1.04 billion increase from the same period last year, company executives reported during a quarterly earnings presentation today.
“The supercycle is clearly accelerating,” Armin Papperger, the company’s CEO, said in a release accompanying the call. “Positive margin effects are significantly increasing our profitability.”
The company reported $4.1 billion for the first six months of 2024, up from $3.8 billion during the same period in 2023, with 76% of their sales coming from outside Germany.
Resulting from the sales increase, the company reported a 62% backlog increase and Papperger added that he expects more contracts from military clients.
Ammunition production experienced $20.7 billion backlog amid increased orders from Germany and Ukraine.
Papperger added that future contracts for the company’s wheeled platforms, based on the Boxer armored personnel carrier, could be potentially worth $60.3 billion in the next 10 years.
“We see a real growing demand for wheeled vehicles,” Papperger said during the call. “There is [the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands along with] a lot of other nations who are looking for different variants.”
Last month, the company announced a joint venture with Leonardo DRS, that would transfer production of the Panther tank, a variant of the Leopard 2, and the Lynx, an infantry fighting vehicle, to Italy.
Papperger labeled the venture “an important decision” potentially worth up to $21.8 billion.
He noted the company is seeing demand for the Skyranger, an air defense system, fitted to older Leopard 1 tank hulls, which were originally produced during the Cold War.
Currently, the company intends to submit the RCH-155, a 155mm howitzer turret fitted to a Boxer wheelbase, for the U.S. Army’s howitzer performance demonstrations, which succeed the now-cancelled Extended Range Cannon Artillery program.
The company expects additional contracts for the Global Mobile Artillery Rocket System and short-range air defense systems.
Since Rheinmetall will be the only producer of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter fuselages outside the United States, Papperger noted that the company will see additional demand as more countries place orders for the aircraft.
Rheinmetall is currently competing for the XM30, a replacement for the Army’s Bradley fighting vehicle, and the Common Tactical Truck, a replacement from program for the Army’s heavy tactical trucks.