Latest news with #PatriceCaine
CNBC
2 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
Thales CEO: Massive use of drones in warfare is new
Thales CEO Patrice Caine discusses developments in the European defense sector and the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
European defence spending gives Thales a boost as it reinforces 2025 targets
French aerospace and defence giant Thales reported total first quarter 2025 sales of €5 billion, which was an increase of 9.9% from the corresponding period in 2024. This was mainly because of the company seeing rising defence sales, which jumped 15%, as several European nations boost their defence spending. Aerospace sales advanced 8.4%. However, cyber and digital sales fell 2.1%. In mature markets, Thales saw strong sales growth in the first quarter, hitting 9.7% in organic terms. This was mainly driven by UK sales, which advanced 14.9%. In emerging markets, sales rose 10.5% in organic terms in the first quarter. However, new orders also dropped by 27% to €3.8bn. While aerospace orders soared 45%, defence orders plummeted 59%, with cyber and digital orders only edging up 1%. Order intakes plunged 61% in emerging markets, while only falling 1% in mature markets. Related Boeing sees losses narrow, shares soar as jet deliveries increase Thales also revealed that order numbers were down in the first quarter of the year due to a very high comparison base, especially in defence. This is because in the first quarter of 2024, the company had received two major contracts with a unit value of more than €500 million each, among other contracts. According to consensus compiled by Thales, market analysts had been expecting quarterly sales to hit €4.8bn, with order intake coming up to €4.9bn. 'In the first quarter of 2025, Thales recorded organic sales growth of nearly 10%, demonstrating the strong momentum of our Defence and Avionics activities, as well as the excellent visibility the Group enjoys,' Patrice Caine, chairman and CEO of Thales, said in the first quarter order intake and sales report on the company's website. He added: 'Order intake in the first quarter of 2025 was solid, and showed growth compared to the same periods in 2022 and 2023. The decline observed compared to the first quarter of 2024 is explained by a particularly high comparison basis.' The French defence company shared that it had started looking into the impact of rising tariffs, as they stand on Thursday, reiterating the vast majority of its operations continue to have robust visibility and a strong medium to long-term outlook. Regarding its tariff analysis, the company said: 'Such analysis takes into account the affected flows on the one hand, and the cases of exemption from tariffs on the other hand (such as in defence activities), along with certain protective contractual conditions in our export contracts (incoterms). Furthermore, Thales is working on mitigation plans in response to these new regulations.' These mitigation plans include the redirection of some production flows, supply chain adjustments, customer surcharging and the use of specific customs programmes such as duty drawbacks, among others. The company also reconfirmed its financial guidance for 2025, expecting organic sales growth of anywhere between 5% and 6%, and adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) margin of between 12.2% and 12.4%. Sign in to access your portfolio
Reuters
28-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
European satellite firms in preliminary EU talks over merger plan -source
PARIS, March 28 (Reuters) - European aerospace companies Airbus ( opens new tab, Thales ( opens new tab and Leonardo ( opens new tab have started preliminary talks with European Union antitrust regulators over a possible merger of their satellite businesses, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday. The source said the companies have begun discussions with EU competition authorities in what is called a "pre-notification phase", and that this marked a very early process that would not be expected to lead to any material outcome until "well into next year". A pre-notification refers to preliminary talks with regulators before a formal request for approval. A second source said the national governments who would be involved in this - France and Italy - were broadly aligned over the project, and that the European Commission, which opposed previous attempts to forge a single satellite maker, had the single most decisive say on whether the consolidation efforts would succeed. Airbus declined comment on an earlier report on this in French paper La Tribune, while a Thales spokesperson declined to comment and referred back to a recent statement by Thales CEO Patrice Caine that discussions on this were preliminary and non-binding. Leonardo declined to comment. Last month, the CEO of Airbus had said he would be happy if satellite merger talks with Thales and Leonardo led to a venture like the MBDA European missile project, and he hoped EU antitrust regulators will take a looser stance than in the past. Thales and Leonardo already cooperate in satellites through a venture that competes with Airbus for the bulk of European market. The start of structured - if still preliminary - discussions with the EU executive is seen as the most tangible step towards a possible new European satellite venture in the face of competition from Elon Musk's Starlink, though industry officials have cautioned that a final deal remains some way off.
Bloomberg
13-03-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Thales Surges Amid European Defense Shift
With the United States changing it's stance on Ukraine and Russia, it has triggered European leaders to pledge more spending in defense, and has driven European defense companies' stocks higher in 2025. Thales CEO Patrice Caine has more on the story. (Source: Bloomberg)
Reuters
04-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Defence demand lifts Thales annual earnings
PARIS, March 4 (Reuters) - French defence and technology group Thales ( opens new tab posted stronger-than-expected 2024 earnings despite losses in space on Tuesday, lifted by robust arms spending and recovering air traffic, and forecast higher sales and profitability for 2025. Europe's largest defence electronics firm said operating income rose 5.7% on a like-for-like basis to 2.419 billion euros as revenues gained 8.3% to 20.577 billion, with defence growth dwarfing gains in aerospace and cyber on a constant basis. New orders rose by an underlying 6% to 25.289 billion euros. Analysts had on average expected operating profit of 2.351 billion euros on revenues of 20.138 billion, and an order intake of 23.76 billion, according to a company compiled consensus. Thales, whose shares soared alongside those of its peers on Monday after European leaders pledged to boost arms spending, said rising demand had repaid investments in defence capacity. "Geopolitical instability is a constant and to a great extent it is feeding the investments made by countries in their defence," CEO Patrice Caine told reporters. Thales said defence sales and profits rose by an underlying 13% last year but aerospace earnings fell by 13.9%, with R&D and restructuring costs weighing on the space business and blotting out double-digit margins in avionics. Caine said Europe has the technology to assure its own defence but its ability to fill any gaps left by transatlantic tensions will depend on the extent to which political declarations turn into firm defence orders. Asked about talks between Thales and Airbus ( opens new tab, as well as Thales' traditional partner Leonardo , on a possible new European venture combining loss-making satellite businesses, Caine said he had no information to share just yet. "Let us work," he told reporters. For 2025, Thales predicted like-for-like growth in sales of between 5% and 6% to a range of 21.7 billion to 21.9 billion euros, and a 40-60-point increase in operating margins to between 12.2% and 12.4%. It said orders would continue to outpace sales.
