Defence: Russia’s mobilization lifts European defence stocks
Russia’s decision last week to mobilize its reserves to drastically increase its manpower in its war in Ukraine has increased the stakes in the war and also the demand for more weapons to Ukraine. Our defence basket was the best performing basket last week down only down 3.3% with the German military company Rheinmetall being the best performing up 6.9%. Analysts remain bullish on Rheinmetall with revenue set to increase from €5.7bn in 2021 to €9.7bn in 2025 as the EU is expected to significantly increase its military spending. It could very well be that the current growth estimates are too low depending on the future outcomes in the war in Ukraine.
Today we are also updating our defence basket by removing Ultra Electronics a UK-based defence and security company that has been bought by Cobham back in August. The new stock in the basket is Hensoldt which is a German military technology company which offers solutions across space, air, land, sea, security, and cyber.