Leonardo closes the first half of 2026 with a growth that surprises even the most optimistic expectations of the defense marketOrders for the first half of the year amounted to 16,259 billion euros, up 44,6% compared to the 11,243 billion euros of the first half of 2025. Net of the contribution of IDV, the Iveco Group's Defense business Acquired on March 18 for €1,6 billion and consolidated since that date, Isoperimetro orders total €15,604 billion, representing organic growth of 38,8%. The order backlog rose to €58,581 billion, up from €45,030 billion in the first half of 2025, representing an increase of 30,1% and 25,6% compared to €46,624 billion at the end of 2025. The Idv effect is also worth approximately €6 billion. Isoperimetro's backlog stands at €52,643 billion, up 16,9%. The order-to-revenue ratio stands at 1,6x, ensuring over 2,6 years of production. Orders continued to grow in the second quarter alone.
Revenues for the first half of 2020 reached 10,003 billion compared to 8,919 billion in the first half of 2025, with a +12,2%. At the core, growth is 8,2% to €9,647 billion, which becomes approximately +10% excluding the negative exchange rate effect on the dollar for Leonardo Drs. In the second quarter, revenues were €5,555 billion versus €4,760 billion in the same period of 2025, an increase of €0,795 billion. Growth is across the board. Defense electronics revenues are €4,512 billion versus €3,795 billion, up 18,9%; helicopters are €2,904 billion versus €2,789 billion, up 4,1% thanks to 81 deliveries versus 72 a year ago and the New Medium Helicopter contract for 23 AW149s for the United Kingdom; aeronautics is €2,004 billion versus €1,913 billion, up 4,8% despite the postponement of a Typhoon order for Kuwait; cyber & security is €0,420 billion versus €0,359 billion, up 17%; and space is €0,499 billion versus €0,436 billion, up 14,4% for Telespazio.
Profitability, earnings, and cash flow: EBITDA at €0,78 billion and margin at 7,8%.
EBITDA for the first half of 2025 rose to €0,780 billion, equal to €780 million, compared to €0,581 billion in the first half of 2025, a jump of 34,3%. By comparison, EBITDA was €0,731 billion, up 25,8%. ROS improved from 6,5% to 7,8%, an improvement of 1,3 percentage points. In the second quarter, EBITDA was €0,499 billion compared to €0,370 billion, an increase of €0,129 billion, and ROS was 9,0% compared to 7,8%, an increase of 1,2 percentage points. The boost comes from defense electronics which records 0,557 billion EBITDA against 0,425 billion with +31,1% and ROS at 12,3%, from helicopters at 0,210 billion against 0,202 billion with ROS at 7,2% stable, from aeronautics which goes from 0,055 billion to 0,108 billion with +96,4% and ROS at 5,4% against 2,9% thanks to the recovery of aerostructures which reduce the loss from -0,096 billion to -0,066 billion and to Gie-Atr which goes from -0,029 to -0,009 billion.
The adjusted net result is 0,476 billion against 0,273 billion with +74,4%. Adjusted earnings per share rose to €0,733 from €0,402, an increase of 82,3%.Reported net profit was €0,456 billion versus €0,542 billion, a decrease of 15,9%, but this comparison reflects a €0,269 billion capital gain in 2025 from the sale of the underwater weapons business to Fincantieri. EBITDA rose to €1,122 billion versus €0,884 billion, an increase of 26,9%, EBIT to €0,661 billion versus €0,432 billion, an increase of 53%, and a margin of 6,6% versus 4,8%.
On the front of the cash register operating cash flow is negative by 0,249 billion Compared to -€0,408 billion in the first half of 2025, this represents a 39% improvement. At the same time, the figure is -€0,226 billion, up 44,6%. Seasonality remains typical of the first few months, but absorption has decreased by €0,159 billion. Group net debt rose to €3,248 billion, compared to €2,173 billion a year ago, up 49,5%. This increase is entirely due to the €1,6 billion disbursement for IDV, plus €0,033 billion for the remaining 35% of Gem Elettronica, and €0,037 billion for Becrypt in the UK, mitigated by cash flow. Compared to the end of 2025, when debt was €1,001 billion, this represents an increase of €2,247 billion.
Guidance revised upwards and operations
In the second quarter, performance convinced the board, chaired by Francesco Macrì, to revise its 2026 guidance upwards, including IDV. Orders increased from the previous guidance of approximately €26,2 billion to approximately €28,2 billion, EBITDA from approximately €2,15 billion to approximately €2,21 billion, with a double-digit ROS target, operating cash flow from approximately €1,32 billion to approximately €1,37 billion, and net debt from approximately €2,3 billion to approximately €2,2 billion, excluding the $0,450 billion acquisition of Raft announced by Leonardo DRS and expected in the fourth quarter. Revenues remain confirmed at around 22,1 billion versus the original €21 billion guidance before IDV. IDV's contribution for the nine months is estimated at €1,2 billion in orders, €1,1 billion in revenue, €0,12 billion in EBITDA, and €0,22 billion in cash.
Among the operations of the semester also the memorandum with Indra for cyber defense, the €0,600 billion ESG-linked term loan, and the €4 billion renewal of the EMTN program. In April, Moody's raised the rating to Baa2 from Baa3 with a positive outlook, and S&P raised its outlook from stable to positive, confirming BBB. Headcount rose to 66.510 from 61.265, an increase of 8,6% also for IDV.
