Saab profit beats forecast as defence boom spurs surge in orders

STOCKHOLM, July 17 (Reuters) - Swedish ‌defence and ​aerospace ​group Saab reported a bigger-than-expected rise in operating earnings for the second quarter on Friday as booming demand ‌in its major markets drove a sharp rise in ⁠sales and order bookings.

The maker of the Gripen fighter jet said in a ‌statement that operating earnings rose ‌to 2.79 billion Swedish crowns ($289 million) from 1.98 billion a year earlier, beating the 2.48 billion crown mean forecast in an ​LSEG poll of analysts.

Saab, which also makes military equipment ranging from missiles and advanced electronics to submarines, said like-for-like sales ⁠rose 29.8% year-on-year and that it remained focused on scaling up capacity to meet ​the surging demand.

Already riding consecutive years of surging demand driven by rapid rearmament across much of Europe due ​to Russia's war in Ukraine, the ‌pace has picked up still further for Saab in recent months with a string of huge ⁠orders.

Saab is set to produce new Gripen E fighters to Ukraine and could see Brazil adding 20 more of the aircraft to its existing ⁠fleet while the company has also inked a $4.8 billion contract with Poland ​for three A26-type submarines.

Meanwhile, NATO announced plans to buy up to 10 of Saab's GlobalEye surveillance planes only weeks after Canada said it would buy ‌a fleet of the aircraft which is based on a Bombardier jet. Saab is also in ‌the running to sell Canada Gripen fighters.

"With our broad offering and ⁠rapidly expanding production capacity, we ‌are well positioned to ​meet this growing demand," Saab CEO Micael Johansson said.

($1 = 9.6637 Swedish crowns)

(Reporting by Niklas Pollard, editing by ‌Essi Lehto)

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