RUAG significantly exceeded the order intake targets in 2023 with CHF 820 million, mainly due to the acquisition of key orders. Particularly noteworthy are the offset business in connection with the Patriot system as well as the order for the second tranche of the COBRA mortar. Additionally, there were orders in the protection and helicopter sectors.
The business year was also very successful in terms of sales. At CHF 741 million, RUAG closed the year well up on the previous year (CHF +59 million). This is primarily attributable to the Business Area Ground: the Swiss Armed Forces placed a large order for material for the armored personnel carrier project in 2023 instead of 2025 as planned. Likewise, the business with POLYCOM radios was also positive. The Business Area Air fell short of its targets and was roughly on a par with the previous year. The two main reasons for this were a slight shortfall in performance and slightly fewer orders from our main customer.
At CHF 22 million, EBIT was slightly above budget overall. However, the picture in the individual Business Areas and companies varies. Whilst the BA Ground had a good year due to one-off effects, the high costs and lower performance of the BA Air had a negative impact on the result. This was
offset by a good result from RUAG Real Estate, driven primarily by the sale of part of the Stans site.
At CHF 118 million, the net financial position remained below the previous year (CHF 140 million), but was significantly better than planned.
In the year under review, RUAG increased its headcount by 180 full-time positions as of the reporting date, mainly due to the numerous ongoing contracts for the benefit of the Swiss Armed Forces.
For 2024, RUAG is targeting a result slightly above that of 2023. In terms of content, this year will once again be very challenging, since numerous operational and strategic projects are being implemented. From the perspective of the company as a whole, three priorities have been defined: stabilizing the organization in its new processes and systems (SAP S/4HANA go-live), ensuring the efficient provision of services and thus achieving
the sales and earnings targets as well as further shaping the strategy. Liquidity must be built up gradually in order to be able to independently make investments in the future.