Strong and resilient military-governmental business 

• With results above pre-pandemic levels
• Now 87% of Group Revenues

Solid Group nine-month financial results

• Backlog of € 35.2 billion
• Strong commercial momentum: Order intake of € 9.3 billion, up 9% YoY
• Top line growth: Revenues of € 9.6 billion, up 6% YoY
• EBITA of € 607 million, up 22% YoY, and growing profitability
• FOCF, significantly improved, more linear than in 2020
• Strong liquidity position and no refinancing needs in the short term

Strong commitment to ESG: signed the first ESG-linked financial instrument; Leonardo Global Compact Lead for the second year in a row

Update on Aerostructures

• Positive signs in specific market segments
• ATR, Airbus and other programmes improving, B787 still challenging
• Put in place actions to increase industrial efficiency and flexibility
• Gradual recovery with breakeven point expected by the end of 2025

FY 2021 Guidance confirmed

Strong foundations and core fundamentals giving confidence in medium-long term

Leonardo's Board of Directors, convened today under the Chairmanship of Luciano Carta, examined and unanimously approved the results of the first nine months 2021.

Alessandro Profumo, Leonardo CEO, stated “We are pleased with our 9 months results that are very solid with performance above pre-pandemic levels in military-governmental (87% of Group Revenues), more than offsetting the still challenging civil business. Our backlog guarantees visibility, the top line is growing as well as EBITA and FOCF. We confirm our 2021 Guidance and medium-long term perspectives based on our solid Group fundamentals. We have signed recently the first “ESG linked” Revolving Credit Facility and we have been appointed again as Global Compact Lead confirming our firm commitment to ESG.”

First 9 months 2021 results 
The results recorded in the first nine months of 2021 put on a sound footing the recovery in growth and an increase in profitability reported in the financial statements at 31 December 2020, showing a gradual and continuous improvement in the Group's industrial performance during 2021. The volume of new orders continued to achieve excellent levels, confirming the good competitive positioning of the Group's products and solutions, with Revenues growing in all the main business areas.
The civil sector reflects the difficulties that have been reported in recent months in a scenario that is still hit by some effects of the pandemic. In particular, the Aerostructures Division is coping with a continuing fall in production volumes and the consequent failure of the industrial assets to operate at full capacity, which led to a further decline in results.
The cash flows, although affected by the usual interim performance characterised by significant outflows in the first part of the year, are clearly improving.

Update on Aerostructures
Before the pandemic, the restructuring plan for Aerostructures was ahead of schedule. Then, the air traffic crisis linked to the covid pandemic interrupted the turnaround process. There are some more positive signs of market recovery in specific segments. ATR, Airbus and other programmes improving, while B787 is still affected by the pandemic. Leonardo has been putting in place actions to increase industrial efficiency and flexibility and to reduce losses in the short and medium term and to secure Aerostructures’ longer-term future. So based on the current assumptions, in Aerostructures Leonardo confirms that 2021 will be the bottom year, with a gradual recovery and then breakeven point expected by the end of 2025.
 

9 Months 2021 Key Performance Indicator

(*) EBITDA this is EBITA before amortisation, depreciation (net of those relating to goodwill or classified among “non-recurring costs”) and adjustments impairment.

(**) EBITA is obtained by eliminating from EBIT the following items: any impairment in goodwill; amortisation and impairment, if any, of the portion of the purchase price allocated to intangible assets as part of business combinations, restructuring costs that are a part of defined and significant plans; other exceptional costs or income, i.e. connected to particularly significant events that are not related to the ordinary performance of the business. 

(***) EBIT is obtained by adding to earnings before financial income and expense and taxes and taxes the Group’s share of profit in the results of its strategic Joint Ventures (GIE-ATR, MBDA, Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio).

Commercial Performance 

• New Orders, amounted to EUR 9,266 million sharply increasing compared to the first nine months of 2020. The Defence Electronics and Security sector in the European component and the Aircraft division of the Aeronautics sector recorded an excellent performance in terms of sales. The Helicopters business segment showed a downturn, which was affected during the period under comparison by the acquisition of the IMOS order, while in the Aeronautics sector the decline in the civil component continues
• Backlog, amounted to EUR 35,235 million, a coverage in terms of equivalent production equal to about 2.5 years

Business Performance

• Revenues, amounted to EUR 9,564 million, continued during the first nine months of 2021, driven by the performance of the Defence Electronics and Security, the Aircraft component of Aeronautics and - to a lesser extent - the Helicopters sectors. The aforementioned growth trend was only partially offset by the expected reduction in volumes in the Aerostructures segment, which continued to be adversely affected by a decline in production rates on the B787 and ATR programmes
• EBITA, amounted to EUR 607 million, (with a ROS of 6.3%) recorded a significant total growth rate (22%) with a considerable increase in all business segments, except for Aerostructures, which was due to higher volumes of revenues and the improvement in profitability and which was also contributed to by a higher share provided by all the strategic Joint Ventures, with particular reference to the manufacturing sector of the Space Alliance and the GIE ATR, thanks to a gradual resumption of deliveries
• EBIT, amounted to EUR 445 million, compared to the first nine months of 2020 (€mil. 395), a significant increase (13%) while continuing to record – albeit to a lesser extent – charges linked to the compliance with the Government’s instructions in the matter of COVID-19, including to protect the health of its workers. EBIT included the effects of the recognition of restructuring costs associated with the agreements announced in relation to the early retirement of the workforce in the Aerostructures division on a voluntary basis (approximately €mil. 90)
• Net Result before extraordinary transactions, which posted a profit of EUR 229 million, equal to Net Result, benefitted from the EBIT performance, as well as from lower financial costs which, in the period under comparison, were strongly affected by the component related to the hedging activity to counter foreign exchange risk and by the charges associated with outstanding bond issues, which showed a decrease during the period under consideration as a result of a reduction in bond exposure. The Net Result was also influenced by the tax benefits deriving from the adoption of the tax concessions provided for by Article 110 of Law Decree 104/2020 on the realignment between the tax and statutory values of goodwill

Financial performance

• Free Operating Cash Flow (FOCF), negative for EUR 1,387 million, improving significantly compared to the figure of 30 September 2020 (negative for €mil. 2,596). This result, although confirming the usual interim trend that is characterised by significant cash absorptions in the first part of the year, reflects the expected positive trend towards improvement
• Group Net Debt, of EUR 4,690 million, showed an increase compared to 31 December 2020 (€mil. 3,318), mainly as a result of the abovementioned FOCF performance