By Giulia Segreti
ROME (Reuters) -Italy's Leonardo will exceed the financial goals it has set itself for the full year given the strong results achieved so far in 2025, Chief Executive Roberto Cingolani said on Wednesday.
Earlier, the aerospace and defence group reported year-on-year double-digit growth for orders, revenues and core profit in the first nine months of the year.
Although the group did not update its guidance, Cingolani told analysts in a call that he felt "confident with the numbers...
and I am sure that we will pass the targets", without specifying which ones.
CFO Alessandra Genco said that given that "orders are not linear" the guidance for orders was confirmed and would hit the range set with mid-year results.
In July, the company improved its 2025 guidance for orders, free cash flow and net debt, estimating orders of between 22.25 billion to 22.75 billion euros ($25.95 billion-$26.53 billion).
Results for the first nine months of the year were lifted by a support and training contract for the Kuwaiti air force's Eurofighter programme, as well as rising revenues in its electronics and helicopter divisions.
The group also had stronger orders for its space businesses, including manufacturing activities and Telespazio, one of its joint ventures with France's Thales, as it increasingly focuses on the space industry.
After diluting its share last week in rocket maker Avio, from just under 29% to just over 19%, Cingolani explained that it did not make sense for Leonardo to "nurture" two missile companies.
Avio has recently launched a 400-million euro capital hike mainly to fund a U.S. plant which will produce solid rocket motors for missiles. Leonardo is already part of European missile maker MBDA, a joint venture with Airbus and Britain's BAE Sustems.
"We would be duplicating... there are certainly other companies interested in investing more in (Avio)," Cingolani said, adding that Leonardo would maintain a stake in Avio.
Leonardo has benefited from rising European defense spending in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It has also expanded through partnerships including with Germany's Rheinmetall and Baykar for drone technologies.
($1 = 0.8575 euros)
(Reporting by Giulia SegretiEditing by Keith Weir and Crispian Balmer)
