Saab net rises 95% to $42m

STOCKHOLM: Swedish defence and aerospace group Saab reported a 95% rise in second-quarter net profit on Friday and said its order backlog at mid-year was at its highest level ever.

Net profit rose to 301m Swedish crowns ($41.7m) from 154m a year-ago. Saab is working to broaden its customer base abroad to adapt to lower defence spending from its biggest customer, the Swedish state.

In June, it announced a JV with South Africa’s Denel in the civil and military aircraft sector after earlier in the month announcing it had bought Ericsson’s defence business crowns.

Sales rose to 5.15bn crowns from 4.61bn in the second quarter last year. Saab’s order backlog at the end of the quarter amounted to 47.7bn crowns, up from 42.2bn at the start of the year.