Thales H1 operating profit beats expectations, helped by strong orders
By Olivier Sorgho and Pauline Foret
July 23 (Reuters) -Europe's largest defence electronics company Thales TCFP.PA on Tuesday slightly beat expectations for half-year operating profit, helped by strong demand from clients in the defence sphere.
Half-year operating income rose 10.4% to 1.096 billion euros ($1.19 billion), while a consensus provided by the company had expected 1.093 billion.
Thales has benefited from rising demand for military gear, bolstered by renewed engagements of NATO countries in Ukraine and deals with various armies.
In June it signed three deals with Ukraine's arms industry. CEO Patrice Caine told reporters in a call there could be more such agreements.
Its order intake, which is a measure of future sales, rose 26% in the half-year to 10.77 billion euros, beating the consensus forecast of 10.38 billion.
Sales, which grew 8.9% to 9.49 billion euros, were boosted by the Defence and Security segment, the company said, adding that in the Aerospace segment, a strong performance in avionics offset weaker trends in its space business.
Industry sources have said that Airbus AIR.PA and Thales were in discussions to tie-up some of their space operations, to better compete with U.S giants such as Elon Musk's Starlink.
In a call, CEO Patrice Caine declined to comment directly, while saying that such talks had been ongoing during his ten-year tenure as chief executive.
The group confirmed its full-year outlook, but warned that its operating profit margin in the Space business would be negative due to falling demand for its telecom services and some restructuring costs.
($1 = 0.9184 euros)
Reporting by Olivier Sorgho and Pauline Foret in Gdansk
Editing by Christina Fincher
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