Leonardo has raised its 2026 orders guidance to approximately €29.5bn ($33.04bn) after reporting a 27.8% year-on-year increase in orders during the first nine months of the year (9M2026).
The revised target, up from approximately €28.2bn ($31.4bn), includes the contribution from Iveco Defence Vehicles (IDV), which Leonardo acquired in March for about €1.6bn.
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Leonardo’s new orders reached €23.3bn in the first three quarters of the fiscal year, giving the group a book-to-bill ratio of about 1.5 times.
Its order backlog exceeded €60bn ($67bn) for the first time, with the IDV business contributing approximately €6bn.
During this period, the aerospace and defence company’s revenue rose 14.2% to €15.3bn, with growth reported across all business sectors.
On a like-for-like basis, excluding the effect of the IDV acquisition, revenue increased by 9%.
Leonardo said the weaker euro had reduced the contribution from its US businesses, particularly Leonardo DRS in the Defence Electronics division.
Excluding that impact, like-for-like revenue growth was approximately 10.2%.
The company’s earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA) increased by 37.7% to €1.30bn in 9M 2026, or 29.3% on a like-for-like basis.
The return on sales margin rose by 1.5 percentage points to 8.5%, with Defence Electronics, Helicopters and Aeronautics among the main contributors to the improvement.
Adjusted net profit increased 74.2% to €812m, supported by the higher EBITA and lower net financial expenses.
As of the end of the quarter, Leonardo’s net debt stood at €3.325bn, up 43.8% year on year, reflecting the €1.6bn outlay for the acquisition.
Looking forward, the company maintained its other 2026 targets, including revenue of approximately €22.1bn, EBITA of about €2.21bn, free operating cash flow of approximately €1.37bn and net debt of around €2.2bn.
In September this year, Leonardo secured a prototype contract from the US Space Force to develop scalable sensor systems aimed at enhancing national defence capabilities.
