(Reuters) -Italy’s Leonardo reported a 12.2% jump in first-quarter earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA) to 211 million euros ($238.58 million) on Thursday, boosted by volume growth and increased profitability compared with the same period last year.
Leonardo’s shares rose as much as 2.8% after the results and were up 2% by 1431 GMT.
The state-controlled defence and aerospace group’s first-quarter revenue increased 13.5% year on year to 4.2 billion euros, above the expectations of analysts at brokerage Equita and Banca Akros.
Leonardo’s January-to-March new orders totalled 6.9 billion euros, up 19.7% from the same period last year, spurred by heightened demand for security in response to rising geopolitical tensions.
The group, which could benefit from Europe’s push for increased defence spending, reported an order backlog of 46.18 billion euros, up 7% from last year’s first quarter.
The Rome-based defence conglomerate also confirmed its 2025 guidance.
($1 = 0.8844 euros)
(Reporting by Romolo Tosiani in GdanskEditing by Ewan Harwood and David Goodman)
