ROTTWEIL (dpa-AFX) – Germany’s largest handgun manufacturer Heckler & Koch saw its profits fall significantly at the beginning of the year. According to a statement published by the company on its website, net profit fell to 2.4 million euros in the first quarter of 2024, just a quarter of the reference value at the beginning of 2023 (10.0 million euros). Meanwhile, sales increased by 1.8 million to 75.0 million euros – the business has thus become significantly less profitable than before.
A company spokesman explained this development by seasonal fluctuations. For some orders, the delivery dates and thus the effects on sales and profits occurred outside the first quarter. “In the second quarter, we were on a very positive growth trajectory.” No figures have yet been published on this subject.
The company, whose general meeting is being held this Tuesday (10 a.m.) in Rottweil, manufactures assault rifles, submachine guns, pistols and grenade launchers, i.e. weapons that a soldier can carry. H&K does not manufacture large military equipment. After being in crisis for the last decade, the company has seen an upturn since 2018. In 2022, H&K had its best financial year in its history, in 2023, sales stagnated at just over 300 million euros and net profit fell by 43% to 28.7 million euros. The management team was nevertheless satisfied, as the level of activity remained high. However, it appears that the downward trend in profits continued at the beginning of this year.
Other defense companies benefit more from the Ukraine effect
While the war in Ukraine has caused a surge in demand for arms groups like Rheinmetall, the impact on Heckler & Koch has been limited – Western support for Ukraine has focused on large military equipment and munitions – such as tanks, air defense and 155-millimeter artillery shells. Small arms – i.e. handguns – were not the most urgent to deliver.
The company Dynamit Nobel Defense (DND) from North Rhine-Westphalia, which has already supplied Ukraine with 13,000 RGW 90 rocket launchers, is an exception, as shown by a list from the federal government. According to the list, Heckler & Koch only supplied 100 grenade launchers, 100 machine guns (MG5) and 500 pistols. The smaller competitor CG Haenel from Thuringia supplied around 2,200 rifles.
True, H&K’s share of Germany’s direct aid to Ukraine is rather small. However, it has benefited from the consequences of the Russian threat, which became visible in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea, and states such as Norway have bought much more in the years that followed./wdw/DP/zb
