Investing.com -- Shares in Norwegian defense group Kongsberg Gruppen ASA advanced 8% on Thursday after it reported a 66% rise in third-quarter operating profit on higher volumes.
Operating profit was NOK 1.86 billion, versus NOK 1.12 billion a year earlier, and the margin was 16.4% versus 14.8%. Revenue jumped to NOK 11.33 billion from NOK 7.57 billion a year earlier.
Order intake was NOK 23.35 billion versus NOK 9.49 billion a year earlier, driven by a NOK 9.8 billion contract to supply NASAMS air defence systems to Belgium.
The order backlog stood at a record NOK 174 billion, of which NOK 12 billion is due for delivery in the fourth quarter.
Other contracts included NASAMS for the Netherlands worth NOK 1.5 billion, JSM missiles for the U.S. Air Force worth $100 million, weapon stations for Canada worth NOK 1.1 billion and a U.S. Marine Corps framework agreement worth up to $404 million.
Defence Systems operating profit rose 103% to NOK 1.11 billion on higher volume, weapon stations and one-off benefits from reduced risk in a number of projects, lifting its margin to 20.6% from 16.1% a year earlier. Revenue rose 58% on air defence and weapon stations.
Missiles & Aerostructures revenue rose 87% on missile production and a full quarter of revenue from California-based Zone 5 Technologies. Its operating profit rose 31% to NOK 463 million, but the margin fell to 11.6% from 16.5% a year earlier, mainly because Zone 5 is scaling up production.
Discovery revenue rose 11%. Operating profit fell 10% to NOK 288 million and the margin was 14.6% versus 18% a year earlier, hurt by extra costs of moving to new facilities. Excluding those costs, the margin was 17.5%.
Cash and cash equivalents were NOK 6.37 billion, versus NOK 4.86 billion at the end of the second quarter. Operating cash flow was NOK 4.10 billion.
Kongsberg said it is in a period of increased investment expected to continue through 2027-2028, and targets revenue of NOK 100 billion in 2029 and NOK 150 billion in 2033.
"Our highest priority is to deliver on the order backlog," Chief executive Eirik Lie said.
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