Germany, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Australia and Great Britain have so far ordered Boxer vehicles.
(Photo: imago images / Eibner)
Munich In view of the discussions about tank deliveries to Ukraine and a large order from Great Britain, shares in the armaments group Rheinmetall are on the way to new highs. The course rose on Tuesday by more than three percent to around 209 euros. It was only just below the all-time high of EUR 209.60.
At the beginning of the week, Rheinmetall offered to supply Ukraine not only with Marder armored personnel carriers, but also with Leopard 1 main battle tanks that had been decommissioned. “The first Leopard 1 could be delivered in six weeks,” CEO Armin Papperger told Handelsblatt.
>> Read about this: Rheinmetall offers Ukraine Leopard 1 tanks
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) stressed on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday that Ukraine needed more military material, including heavy weapons. “Now is no time for excuses, now is the time for creativity and pragmatism,” emphasized Baerbock.
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The Rheinmetall Group was also able to announce a new major order from Great Britain on Monday. The British government ordered 100 additional Boxer wheeled armored vehicles from Artec, a consortium formed by Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann. The vehicles are to be delivered from 2024 and produced in Germany and Great Britain. In 2019 Great Britain had already ordered 523 wheeled tanks in different variants.
The additional boxers are to be used as group transporters, command vehicles and ambulances. A total of around 1500 units were ordered worldwide.
Hensoldt shares also benefit from the upgrade
In addition to the Leopard battle tank, the company also manufactures anti-aircraft systems, for example. According to the Stockholm peace research institute Sipri, the group ranks 27th worldwide with sales of around six billion euros.
Defense company stock prices have risen sharply since Russia invaded Ukraine. At the beginning of the year, Rheinmetall’s price was just over 80 euros.
The development at Hensoldt is similar. The company ranks 78th among defense companies worldwide and is a specialist in sensor solutions for defense applications. Since the beginning of the year, the share price has also more than doubled to a good 25 euros.
The German armaments companies could particularly benefit from the decision to massively increase the German defense budget. Export prospects have also improved. “In view of the Ukraine conflict, other European countries could also increase their armaments expenditure,” said DZ Bank with conviction.
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