Airbus and Leonardo Post Strong Revenue Growth in Space Sectors for 2025

Milan - Ekhbary News Agency

Airbus and Leonardo Post Strong Revenue Growth in Space Sectors for 2025

Two of Europe's foremost aerospace and defense conglomerates, Airbus and Leonardo, have reported a notable surge in revenues from their space divisions for the fiscal year 2025, marking a significant improvement over the previous year. The announcements, made earlier this week through separate earnings reports, coincide with ongoing discussions between the two European giants and French firm Thales concerning a potential joint venture, tentatively named 'Project Bromo'. This strategic initiative, however, was not a focal point of the companies' recent financial calls.

Delving into the specifics, Airbus Defence and Space declared revenues of 13.4 billion euros ($14.5 billion) for 2025. This figure represents an 11% increase compared to the 12.1 billion euros recorded in 2024. Similarly, Leonardo's Space division, in its preliminary results for FY 2025, reported revenues slightly exceeding 1 billion euros ($1.08 billion). This also signifies an approximate 11% rise from the 906 million euros generated in 2024, underscoring a healthy expansion across both entities' space operations.

On a consolidated group level, Airbus reported total revenues of 73.4 billion euros for 2025, a 6% increase from 69.2 billion euros in 2024. The company's adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) reached a substantial 7.1 billion euros, a significant jump from 5.35 billion euros the prior year. Net income after taxes stood at 5.2 billion euros, with free cash flow totaling 4.6 billion euros.

The 11% revenue growth in Airbus's Defence and Space division, climbing to 13.4 billion euros, was primarily attributed to increased program volumes and successful deliveries. Crucially, the division also demonstrated a strong return to profitability. Adjusted EBIT for the division soared to 798 million euros, a remarkable turnaround from a loss of 566 million euros in 2024. This financial recovery is largely credited to aggressive restructuring and cost-reduction measures, implemented following what Airbus termed an "in-depth technical review" conducted in the first half of 2024.

An Airbus spokesperson elaborated to SpaceNews, stating, "In the first half of 2024, the Space Systems management team conducted an extensive technical review of all programs, identifying commercial and technical challenges. These are mainly related to updated assumptions on schedules, workload, sourcing, risks, and costs over the lifetime of certain telecommunications, navigation, and observation programmes." The 2025 report also acknowledged a 105 million euro loss linked to a workforce adaptation plan, recorded in the first quarter of 2025. This plan, the spokesperson explained, "recognizes that our cost base is too high, which is why we needed to reduce our overhead and indirect positions." The company confirmed that during its 2024 reorganization, headquarters functions were transferred to business lines, leading to the reduction of 2,043 positions by mid-2026, with the adaptation plan specifically targeting Space Systems (1,128 positions) and overhead/indirect roles (915).

Both Airbus and Leonardo are deeply involved in numerous European space initiatives. Airbus, for instance, has developed the European Service Module for NASA's Artemis missions for the European Space Agency (ESA) and recently constructed and launched Sentinel-6B, a key component of the Copernicus Earth observation program. Leonardo, through its subsidiaries Telespazio and e-GEOS, is a major player in space services and downstream applications, including cybersecurity solutions for Italy's IRIDE constellation.

Leonardo's overall financial performance in 2025 also showed significant strength, with total revenues reaching 19.5 billion euros, an 11% increase year-over-year. Adjusted EBIT rose to 1.75 billion euros, an 18% increase. Free operating cash flow was robust at 1 billion euros, while net debt decreased to 1 billion euros from 1.8 billion euros in 2024.

Mirroring Airbus's success, Leonardo's dedicated Space division reported improved performance, with revenues surpassing 1 billion euros against 906 million euros in 2024. Adjusted EBIT within this division climbed to 59 million euros from 31 million euros in the prior year. However, the backlog in the Space segment saw a slight decline, decreasing by roughly 3% from 1.7 billion euros in 2024 to 1.6 billion euros in 2025.

A Leonardo announcement highlighted that the space segment "confirmed the trend begun in 2024 and is benefitting from the partial recovery of the manufacturing component of the Space Alliance." This alliance, a strategic partnership established in 2005 with Thales, comprises Telespazio (Leonardo 67%, Thales 33%) and Thales Alenia Space (Thales 67%, Leonardo 33%). The company attributes its revenue growth primarily to the expansion of its Satcom business, increased activities on military programs, and growth in Satellite Systems and Operations.

Enhanced profitability within Leonardo's space operations is linked to the strong performance of Telespazio and the gradual recovery of Thales Alenia Space. Leonardo's CFO, Giuseppe Aurilio, specified that the profit increase was "part organic, due to service segment growth, and part due to lower loss of Thales Alenia Space." Thales Alenia Space, while still reporting a negative margin, saw it narrow significantly from 50 million euros in 2024 to 23 million euros in 2025, a development Leonardo described as being on an "efficiency path."

The financial data from Airbus and Leonardo, two key players expected to be involved in the proposed 'Bromo' merger, signals a positive trajectory toward recovery and growth in Europe's space sector. Michael Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space, has previously emphasized the strategic importance of such consolidations, framing the 'Bromo' initiative as essential for Europe to scale effectively and maintain competitiveness against global leaders like the United States and China.

Ekhbary News Agency