An arms giant has predicted that its sales will double in just three years thanks to a spike in world conflict.
German manufacturer Rheinmetall is one of the world’s leading suppliers of large-calibre weapons and ammunition.
The company’s globally acclaimed smoothbore L44 and L55 tank guns are considered to be deadly accurate on the battlefield.
Now it believes conflicts like Israel’s war with Hamas and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will drive nations around the world to massively increase their defence budgets.
They told an investors’ event on Tuesday, 21st November that they predict sales will increase to EUR 13 and 14 billion (GBP 11 and 12 billion) by 2026.
Experts believe the lessons learned about what does and doesn’t work on the modern battlefield mean armies will go on a huge arms spending spree.
Duesseldorf-based Rheinmetall has already forecast revenue of between EUR 7.4 and 7.6 billion (GBP 6.4 and 6.6 billion), in the current year.
Western states supporting Ukraine have so far sent Kiev tanks, missiles, and other weapons worth billions of USD.
Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger wants to drive the operating profit margin to more than 15 per cent of sales by 2026.
The firm’s ammunition division alone is expected to race from EUR 1.5 billion (GBP 1.3 billion) in sales last year, to around GBP 4 billion (GBP 3.4 billion) in three years.
And demand is expected to be so high that Rheinmetall is hugely expanding its production capacities to come with the new orders, reports German media.
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Story By: Georgina Jedikovska, Sub-Editor: Georgina Jedikovska, Agency: Newsflash
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