German defence contractor Hensoldt sees investment opportunities in AI

(Reuters) - Hensoldt sees artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics as an area with investment opportunity, the German defence electronics maker said at its Capital Markets Day.

The producer of radars for the IRIS-T air defence system supplied to Ukraine said on Wednesday that mergers and acquisitions were always important to its growth strategy.

"Investment opportunities arise, for example, in the areas of artificial intelligence and analytics as well as in the services and integration business," it said in a statement.

According to slides from Hensoldt's Capital Markets Day presentation, the company plans to invest in AI development "across all business for all relevant products and solutions".

The company, whose orders have more than doubled since 2019 due to increased geopolitical instability around the world, is eyeing acquisitions in a bid for European consolidation.

"With increasing geopolitical tensions around the world, we are facing a time of great uncertainty and an enormous need for defence and security technologies," CEO Thomas Mueller said.

Last week, Hensoldt announced plans for a capital increase to finance the acquisition of German military service firm ESG.

The partly state-owned defence electronics specialist also confirmed its annual and mid-term guidance at its Capital Markets Day, adding that around 85% of 2024 revenue is already secured by a 5.5-billion-euro ($6.00-billion) order backlog.

($1 = 0.9168 euros)

(Reporting by Andrey Sychev and Alexander Huebner; Editing by Miranda Murray)