Defense industry
Gun manufacturer Heckler & Koch makes more profit
The weapons manufacturer Heckler & Koch increases its profit. Photo: Wolf von Dewitz / dpa-Zentralbild / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Assault rifles and precision rifles increase the profits of the weapons manufacturer Heckler & Koch. The company is optimistic about the future.
The weapons manufacturer Heckler & Koch is doing more profitable business than before.
While sales in the first nine months of this year only climbed by around one percent to 210 million euros compared to the same period in the previous year, the operating result (EBIT) rose by seven percent to 34.4 million euros, as the company from Oberndorf (Baden -Wuerttemberg) announced on Monday.
The bottom line was a net profit of 17.1 million euros, almost a third more than in the first three quarters of 2020.
In 2017 and 2018, the company was still deep in the red, but with new management and investments by the owners, the turnaround was achieved. Work processes have been improved and new machines have been purchased. These measures introduced in 2019 paid off, says CFO Björn Krönert. “We are on a good growth path.” Heckler & Koch has 1050 employees, 950 of whom work at the company’s headquarters in Oberndorf.
Money in the coffers brought in this year, for example, deliveries of assault rifles to the French and Norwegian armies. The US Army received precision rifles from HK. The British Army, in turn, had older assault rifles modernized by technicians from the company. With a view to 2022, Executive Board member Krönert said that the market is expected to remain strong. “We will continue to develop and look to the future with optimism.”