Financial year 2025: HENSOLDT achieves record order intake and confirms structural growth path

The HENSOLDT Group (“HENSOLDT”) continued its profitable growth in the 2025 financial year, fully meeting and in some cases exceeding its forecasts. The positive business development confirms the company’s strong competitive position in the European defence electronics market.

With an order intake of EUR 4,710 million, HENSOLDT increased the order volume of the previous year by 62% (previous year: EUR 2,904 million). As a result, the order backlog rose by one third to EUR 8,833 million (previous year: EUR 6,644 million). Revenue rose by close to 10% to EUR 2,455 million (previous year: EUR 2,240 million). Despite various operational transformation initiatives that form the basis for future growth, HENSOLDT was able to steadily convert orders into the implementation of project milestones and deliveries. The book-to-bill ratio, which rose to 1.9x, underscores the structural acceleration in demand and lays the foundation for further growth.

At the same time, HENSOLDT increased its profitability in 2025. Adjusted EBITDA grew to EUR 452 million (previous year: EUR 405 million). This corresponds to an adjusted EBITDA margin of 18.4%, which exceeded expectations (forecast: 18% or higher). Adjusted free cash flow also exceeded guidance at EUR 347 million. It was driven by continued positive operating performance and cash inflows from advance payments received. The net leverage remained unchanged from the previous year at a low level of 1.6x. This was due to a significant increase in free liquidity, offset by higher lease liabilities in the course of capacity expansion. HENSOLDT continues to have a healthy financing structure and financial flexibility for investments.

Oliver Dörre, CEO of HENSOLDT, says: "The geopolitical situation is forcing Europe to sustainably strengthen its defence capabilities. We are seeing this not only in rising defence budgets, but also in accelerated and concrete procurement decisions since the last half-year. Germany has played a key role and was a major driver of our order intake momentum in 2025. Our intelligent and connected sensor, radar and optronics solutions address precisely the needs currently evident on the battlefield: quickly available and scalable capabilities. With our expertise in software-defined defence, we combine hardware, data and software into integrated, cross-domain system solutions. This makes us a unique partner for armed forces that need to strengthen their capabilities in the short term and modernise them in the long term."

Christian Ladurner, CFO of HENSOLDT, explains: "Record order intake and a significant increase in our order backlog provide us with a high degree of planning certainty. At the same time, we have demonstrated that we can increase growth profitably. The EBITDA margin is above our forecast, and the free cash flow underscores the company's operational performance. We are consistently investing in capacity and processes to reliably meet the increased demand. With targeted ramp-up measures, we are laying the foundation for converting our order backlog into revenue as planned and for securing our growth path in the long term."

Sensors: Strong order momentum strengthens revenue growth

In the Sensors segment, orders for air defence radars, the Eurofighter programme, PEGASUS and P8 Poseidon were the main drivers of order intake, which amounted to EUR 3,143 million. With an increase of 8% to EUR 2,058 million, the segment recorded solid revenue development – despite the slower start of radar production in the first half of 2025. Pass-through revenue continued to decline. Adjusted EBITDA was at EUR 394 million, with an EBITDA margin of 19.2%. The logistical ramp-up had a slight temporary impact.

Optronics: Significant volume growth drives profitability

The Optronics segment saw a significant increase in order intake, with EUR 1,585 million in the 2025 financial year meaning more than double the previous year's figure. This was primarily driven by orders for the Luchs 2 and Leopard 2 platforms. Revenue rose by 20% to EUR 419 million. Adjusted EBITDA improved by over 140% to EUR 58 million thanks to higher volumes and economies of scale. The EBITDA margin was at 13.8%.

Dividend proposal and outlook for the 2026 financial year

Due to the positive business development, the HENSOLDT Management Board intends to propose a dividend distribution of EUR 0.55 per share to the Supervisory Board and the Annual General Meeting. This represents an increase of 10% (+EUR 0.05) compared to the previous year.

HENSOLDT has further concretized its growth path for the 2026 financial year and has partially specified or raised its guidance. The company now expects revenue of around EUR 2,750 million (previously: growth of 10%) and an unchanged book-to-bill ratio of 1.5x to 2.0x. The forecast for the adjusted EBITDA margin has been raised to 18.5% to 19% (previously: +50 basis points per year). Adjusted free cash flow is expected to remain at around 40% of adjusted EBITDA, while the target for the net leverage has been specified at around 1.5x.

The preliminary results for the 2025 financial year are available on the Investor Relations website of HENSOLDT AG. The audited consolidated financial statements will be published on 26 March 2026. The results for the first quarter of 2026 are expected to be published on 6 May 2026.