Product sales are still going well. When you combine that with several large contracts, it becomes a very strong quarter in terms of order intake, says the company's CEO, Micael Johansson, to TT.
Saab shares rose 2.4 percent on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in early trading after the report.
The board of directors proposes an increase in the dividend to SEK 2.40 per share, compared to SEK 2.00 last year. Saab is also raising its growth targets for the coming years.
Political decisions
The company previously had a five-year plan for the years 2023–2027, which had projected an average annual growth of 18 percent. Now the company believes that growth will average around 22 percent per year for the period.
Since we have performed very well in these first three years of the five-year plan, we have had very good order intake and built up the order backlog. Things are looking good, says Johansson.
However, he does not want to speculate on how large orders the company will receive in 2026, but says that "activity in the market looks good."
Since it is always difficult to know when they will fall in - or not. Too often political decisions are made on top of needing to have a very good offer.
Sharp increase
Saab's share has increased in value by more than 180 percent in one year due to sharply increased demand for the group's products. The company has added 3,300 employees during the year. This means that the Linköping-based company now has almost 28,000 employees around the world.
That's 1,100 more than just over three years ago, so it's a huge growth in personnel, says Micael Johansson.
To keep up with demand, Saab has invested heavily in new factories and automation in recent years. By the end of the year, new factories in both the US and India will be operational.
In a shaky world, Micael Johansson does not see any slowdown ahead.
There is still a terrible war going on in Ukraine. European countries are rearming at a very rapid pace and the US has clearly indicated that we must take our own responsibility.
If you look at the NATO plan for countries to reach 3.5 percent of GDP, you are perhaps just over halfway there.
Continued rearmament
Even if there were to be a peace agreement in Ukraine, Micael Johansson believes that the rearmament will continue.
Even if there is peace in Europe, we will not be able to rely on a calm situation to the east.
Saab's sales during the fourth quarter rose to SEK 27.7 billion, from SEK 20.8 billion.
Operating profit rose to 3.3 billion, compared to 2.0 billion. This compares with an average forecast of 2.7 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Order intake for the fourth quarter amounted to SEK 100.1 billion, compared to SEK 17.6 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.
