Exosens' sales surge 20% as demand for drone tech booms

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.

CHEAP DRONES RESHAPE WAR IN THE SKY

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)

---

Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!

---

You May Also Be Interested In

• Chinese rescue work in Tibet flood disaster zone still trudging along days later
• Massachusetts primaries test Democratic appetite for generational change
• Kenya aviation workers end strike that disrupted flights, officials say