DUESSELDORF, Germany, March 24 (UPI) -- German security industry company Rheinmetall swung to record 2010 earnings on higher defense and automotive sales.
The Dusseldorf maker of guns and armored vehicles posted record earnings before interest and tax of $421 million, up 17 percent from the previous year.
The company is expecting even stronger business for 2011, forecasting a sales rise of 8 percent to $6.1 billion and operating profit of up to $510 million.
The company also supplies automobile parts, a sector that has been suffering in the economic crisis. However, in 2010, business improved dramatically, the company said.
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Last year, sales of Rheinmetall defense products grew 6 percent to more than $2.8 billion, while the automotive division saw a 30 percent sales increase also to $2.8 billion. Nearly 70 percent of all revenues came from exports.
"Thanks to an impressive turnaround in the automotive sector, we are once more on track for success," Rheinmetall Chief Executive Officer Klaus Eberhardt said in a statement.
The company proposed to pay a dividend of $2.13 per share, up from 43 cents for the previous year.
Rheinmetall is known for its guns that are mounted on armored vehicles and tanks, anti-aircraft guns and armored vehicles.
Together with Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, it also builds the Puma, a next-generation infantry fighting vehicle, the first two models of which were delivered to the Bundeswehr in late 2010.
The Puma is key when it comes to modernizing Germany's armed forces. It is intended to replace the Marder tanks, in service since 1971. The Puma is more mobile and better armored and Bundeswehr officials say it's vital to protect German troops from an increasing number of insurgent attacks in Afghanistan.
Chosen after a years-long bidding process that included intense testing of prototypes, the Puma is designed to withstand bazooka impacts and mine detonations.
The German defense industry is among the world's leading.
German companies including ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann develop high-quality submarines, ships, armored vehicles and tanks. And European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co., a multinational giant producing airplanes and helicopters, has a strong German profile.
According to statistics compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Germany ranks third in the military sales market behind Russia and the world's largest arms exporter, the United States.
