By Jakob Van Calster and Zakarya Meliani
April 27 (Reuters) – Exosens’ sales jumped 19.7% in the first quarter, driven by booming demand for drones and anti-drone systems, a trend the French defence technology group is betting on to carry future growth.
Exosens’ products are in high demand as they can be deployed rapidly unlike large, capital-intensive systems, and the company has a strong offering and growing momentum in its tactical drones and drone-detection technologies, Bernstein analyst Aleksander Peterc said.
The company reported quarterly revenue of 122.6 million euros ($143.8 million) and confirmed its full-year forecast on Monday, while saying it would continue to assess further capacity expansion in response to accelerating global demand.
Both the amplification and detection and imaging (D&I) divisions recorded strong revenue growth.
Sales of the amplification unit, which produces components for night-vision goggles, were boosted by Exosens’ first contract with the U.S. Army, growing 11.4% to 88.1 million euros in the quarter. The D&I business meanwhile saw a surge of 44.5% to 34.6 million euros as the company expanded its foothold in the drone and counter‑drone market.
The D&I unit notably benefited from Exosens’ largest order to date for thermal cameras used in counter‑drone systems, placed by a major European customer.
Exosens’ finance chief Quynh‑Boi Demey told Reuters she expected additional orders from the same undisclosed customer.
“The drone and counter‑drone market is just booming,” as geopolitical tensions rise, she said.
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Bernstein’s Peterc said that Exosens, which supplies Germany’s Rheinmetall and Hensoldt among others, appears well positioned to profit from the geopolitical environment even as investor sentiment on the wider European defence index has cooled.
J.P. Morgan said in a note to clients that while the company’s shares were “not cheap”, they offered one of the very few ways to gain direct exposure to the fast-growing drone market. The shares were broadly flat at 0905 GMT.
Exosens’ adjusted gross profit rose 20.1% to 63.5 million euros in the first quarter, with a slight increase in the corresponding margin to 51.8% of sales.
($1 = 0.8528 euros)
(Reporting by Jakob Van Calster and Zakarya Meliani, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
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