Posted on Jul 23, 2021 8:53 AM
Thales resisted, and even came out a winner. The French defense and security group announced on Friday that it had recorded a “very strong rebound” in its activity in the first half of the year and revised upwards its annual turnover target.
In detail, Thales achieved sales up 8.7%, to 8.4 billion euros over the first six months of the year, better than the 8.2 billion in the same period of 2019. From For its part, the consolidated net profit group share jumped 565% to 433 million euros. An amount which remains 120 million lower than the amount of two years ago, specifies Thales in a press release on Friday.
More optimistic for 2021
The CEO, Patrice Cain, hailed a “very very good level of order intake”, a leading indicator of future growth in turnover: 8.2 billion euros, up 35% over one year. In 2019, it was 7 billion. These elements testify to “the resilience of Thales in a context which remains disturbed in spite of everything,” he said during a conference call.
Thales also said it was slightly more optimistic for the whole of 2021. The group now hopes to achieve a turnover of between 17.5 and 18 billion euros, against a previous target range of 17. , 1 to 17.9 billion.
Seven “major contracts” signed
In the first half of the year, the French technology group returned to positive cash flow, with operating cash flow of 420 million euros, and reduced its debt by 1.4 billion euros to 2.5 billion. During the period, Thales said it had won seven “major contracts” worth more than 100 million euros, four in the defense sectors – notably a share of Rafale fighter jet sales – and security, and three in the space field.
The diversity of the group’s businesses allows it to balance its performance. According to Thales, “on a pro forma basis”, its operational profitability “is now back to a level close to 2019, the strong increase in results from transport and digital identity and security activities almost completely offsetting the significant drop in aerospace sector results ”.
Aeronautics still struggling
Civil aeronautics “remains largely depressed”, which translates for Thales by a level of activity in this sector 30% lower than before the crisis, according to the CEO. “We know very well that it will take time to recover a pre-crisis level of turnover, it will take several years”, added the Director General of Finance and Information Systems, Pascal Bouchiat. Especially since “a certain number of uncertainties” still hovered over the second half of the year given the health crisis, he stressed.
Defense industrialist, aeronautical subcontractor, Thales is also a specialist in digital identification and finds itself affected, like the technological sector around the world, by the shortage of semiconductors. “We do not imagine significant breaks in supply in the second half of 2021”, nevertheless specified Pascal Bouchiat, saying to remain “vigilant” because “2022 will be really tense”.
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