We look back on an eventful year in which ongoing global uncertainties, impressive financial results, groundbreaking technological innovations, and ambitious plans for the future went hand in hand.

Unfortunately, the war in Ukraine is not yet over. In addition, there are the crises in the Middle East and the growing threat to the West from China. The Inspector General of the German Bundeswehr, Carsten Breuer, has made it clear that Russia could attack NATO countries as early as 2029. That is why we need credible deterrent capabilities. These must be modern and flexibly adaptable, operational at all times, at least equal to our adversaries in quantity and far superior to them in quality. Accordingly, we continue to see strong demand, particularly for highly sophisticated electronic defence and security solutions such as those developed and offered by HENSOLDT. These solutions make an essential contribution to countering current and future threats. Without these solutions, we will not be able to defend ourselves. It is this conviction that drives us to continuously develop our products and further expand our technological lead.

But technological excellence alone is not enough. In order for us to make our contribution to defence capabilities, solid underlying parameters are needed. For example, industry can only plan for the long term if there is stability and multi-year funding commitments. German budget funds are therefore better invested in Germany. Equally important is a reliable export policy. Every euro that other countries spend on defence goods ‘Made in Germany’ flows back into our economy and strengthens our capacity for innovation. Only in this way we will be able to actively shape the integration of the European security and defence industry.

In this dynamic environment, HENSOLDT has once again successfully proved itself. Even more than that: 2024 was another extremely positive financial year for us. We achieved our ambitious targets and even exceeded them in key areas. With an additional order intake of over € 2.9 billion, we now have a record order backlog of over € 6.6 billion, which provides us with excellent visibility on revenues for the coming years. The book-to-bill ratio is 1.3x. HENSOLDT generated revenue of over € 2.2 billion in the year just gone, with core business volume increasing by 9 %. Adjusted EBITDA rose by 23.0 % to € 405 million. The adjusted EBITDA margin before pass-through was 19.4 %. I am particularly pleased that we were able to make even greater progress in reducing debt than announced, with a very encouraging adjusted free cash flow of € 249 million. Our net leverage ratio, including the effects of the ESG acquisition, is now 1.6. Our strong financial performance allows us to propose an increase in the dividend for 2024 to € 0.50 per share. We keep our word and deliver what we promise.

The main drivers of this positive development are our outstanding products and solutions. Our strong market position is reflected in a series of significant new orders. In the Sensors segment, I am thinking primarily of the NNbS air defence system and our TRML-4D and Spexer radars. Also in the Optronics segment, we took some very encouraging orders, for example for the optronic systems of the new Leopard tanks, for the sensor technology of the Fennek reconnaissance vehicle or the optronic mast systems for class 212 submarines. In 2024, we again achieved technological advances and breakthroughs in numerous projects. We conducted tests of the Mk1 radar with an A320-ATRA aircraft, successfully completed the first flight with a modified aircraft in the PEGASUS project and delivered the first prototype of the WAO HD digital vision system to KNDS. All these projects underline our company’s innovative strength and commitment.

Looking back personally on the past year, I can say that since I started in April, it has been an intensive but extremely rewarding time. I am particularly pleased that we were able to extend the management contracts with Christian Ladurner and Dr Lars Immisch. I value our work together tremendously. These extensions also emphasise the continuity in the management of our company. My thanks also go to the Executive Committee, which handles the company’s demanding day-to-day business and strategic transformation with a high level of professionalism and commitment as a strong team.

At our Capital Markets Day in December 2024, we presented our ambitious “North Star” strategy for the first time. This is now picking up notable speed – the first steps have been taken and we are right on track. We have defined clear goals, such as expanding our international presence under the motto “Grow with focus”. This involves concentrating our resources and activities on those markets and business opportunities that are most compatible with our company’s strengths and objectives and therefore open the way to sustainable, particularly high-margin growth. At the same time, we are driving forward the transformation from a product-oriented portfolio to a solution-oriented approach under the “Pioneer Software Defined Defence” axis. The future is digital, which is why we are making targeted investments in key technologies to make our sensor technology more intelligent and better connected.

In addition, we have made impressive progress in terms of our “Deliver at scale” axis, which involves providing our products and system solutions in significantly larger quantities while maintaining excellent quality. We have successfully completed the integration of the ESG Group in a very short time. Our investments in capacity expansion, for example at the Ulm site, and in digitalisation initiatives such as OneSAPnow, show that we are not only working on short-term successes, but also want to enable sustainable and long-term growth.

We have named the fourth axis “Lead our team into the future”. Our team, in other words all our employees, are the heart of HENSOLDT and the basis of our growth strategy. That is why we want to create a working environment in which everyone can fully develop their potential and together make our company the best employer in the industry. This will of course also make us even more attractive to new employees in the future. In recent months, we have already made fundamental adjustments to our organisation. We have realigned our structures and set up the divisions so that they can react flexibly and efficiently to growth opportunities. In future, we will have four divisions that reflect our business areas: Radar and Electronic Warfare, Optronics, Multi-Domain Solutions and Services & Training.

These four strategic axes of “North Star” are key to sustainable growth. We will continue to implement them consistently and are very confident that this will enable us to achieve our ambitious target of around € 5 billion in revenue by the beginning of the next decade.

Looking to the future, it quickly becomes clear that the rapid pace at which the world is changing is unlikely to slow down. Therefore, the coming years will also be characterised by new and sometimes unforeseeable challenges. Technological progress, digital connectivity and dynamic threat scenarios will demand a great deal of us every day. What is already becoming apparent is that hardware and ammunition remain important but will no longer be the sole deciding factors in combat. Our customers’ requirements change in very short cycles. Products must be adapted and further developed increasingly quickly. In Ukraine, this is happening almost in real time. Superiority in terms of information, command and control and effectiveness is of central importance. This is where the concept of Software Defined Defence, which I have already mentioned, comes in. Modular software solutions that can be quickly adapted and data-centric architectures that exploit the full potential of sensor technology – this is the future. We will continue to develop HENSOLDT consistently in this direction. The fact that we have already taken important steps is demonstrated, for example, by our sensor suite CERETRON for combat vehicles. This is an integrated, modular sensor software platform that can be used for surveillance and reconnaissance. All sensors are already primed for the combat clouds of the future.

We have a solid financial base that allows us to make all the investments needed to pursue the path to Software Defined Defence outlined above. In 2025, we will spend almost € 130 million on self-financed research and development. This is how we are further expanding our pioneering role in this field and creating the technological basis that will enable our customers to meet constantly changing requirements.

Ultimately, however, it is not only technologies that make the difference, but above all the people who develop and advance them. Their expertise, commitment and passion are the driving factors behind our success. With the innovative strength of our teams and the tireless efforts of all of our HENSOLDTians, we are actively shaping the future and making an important contribution to protecting people and defending prosperity, democracy and freedom.