Aerospace

Avio, 400 million capital increase. CEO Ranzo: unanimous board of directors, then each shareholder decides on adhesion

The transaction aimed at supporting the growth plan to increase production

12 September 2025

4' min read

Key points

The business plan
Semester accounts
Ranzo: 2025 continues with consolidation of results

4' min read

Avio's Board of Directors gave the go-ahead for the proposed €400 million capital increase that will be put to a vote at the Shareholders' Meeting on 23 October in order to 'support the growth plan' in the space and defence markets of Europe and the United States with the enhancement of production capacity.

As stated in a note, the increase will take place in 'one or more tranches against payment in cash of a maximum total amount of EUR 400 million (including any share premium), through the issue of ordinary shares without nominal value, having the same characteristics as those outstanding, to be offered with pre-emptive rights to shareholders in proportion to the number of shares held'.

The board of directors also proposes that the extraordinary shareholders' meeting grant the board full powers to define the terms and conditions of the increase, including the issue price, any share premium, the final amount of the rights issue and the number of newly issued shares to be offered to shareholders. The increase is fully secured by a pre-underwriting agreement with Jefferies and Morgan Stanley and the company estimates that it can be completed by the end of the year.

The business plan

Avio's new business plan, which was approved together with the proposed capital increase, estimates that over the next 10 years turnover and ebitda can grow at an average annual rate of 'around 10%' and 'over 15%' respectively.

In the defence sector, where the Company expects the new plant in the USA for the production of solid-propellant motors to be operational by the end of 2028, Avio aims to "iincrease its presence in a rapidly accelerating market" and to "contribute to bridging the current gap between demand and supply of solid-propellant motors, conquering market shares in a total addressable market that today is worth about $1.7 billion and is expected to grow at a rate of 8% by 2030".

In space, Avio believes that it will continue to benefit from 'market dynamics, which currently forecast an average annual growth rate between 2024 and 2034 (in terms of tonnes launched into orbit) of around 10%, by increasing the flight rate of Vega C and evolving its launcher platform with Vega E as well as supplying thrusters for Ariane launchers'.

Accounts for the semester

In the first half of 2025, Avio recorded net revenues of €235 million, up 30% in the wake of the production of the Vega C and P120 engines for Ariane 6, and an ebitda of €10 million, up 23.7%. The operating result was positive at €30 thousand, up slightly (+€400 thousand) compared to a year ago. The net result remains negative (-0.2 million) but improves by 1.6 million compared to June 2024. The order book at EUR 1.67bn at the end of June is 'substantially in line' with December. Orders taken in the first half of the year amounted to EUR 180m and mostly related to Vega launch service contracts. The net cash position was 75.3 million, down 14.8 million from December.

The 2025 guidance presented in March is confirmed, which indicates net revenue in the range of EUR 450-480m, ebitda of EUR 27-33m (adjusted EUR 30-36m) and net profit of EUR 7-10m. The order backlog is expected to be between EUR 1.7 and 1.8 billion.

Ranzo: 2025 continues with consolidation of results

"If 2024 represented an important turning point in Avio's business, thanks to the important goals achieved both in the space sector and in the development of the defence business, 2025 continues under the banner of the consolidation of these results, also laying the foundations for a further, fundamental phase of growth in the wake of the trajectory outlined by the important goals achieved together in recent months," commented CEO Giulio Ranzo.

Avio's board of directors, reads the note, also appointed Roberto Carassai as its new CFO as of 1 October.

Ranzo: board unanimous on increase, then each shareholder decides on membership

"Avio's board of directors, which includes a representation of all shareholders, taking into account the fact that this is a project of ambitious global expansion of the company (the investment in the USA, ndr), intended to propose a very market-friendly capital increase, under option to all shareholders, thus leaving it up to each one to decide whether they want to participate or make way for some other investor.

So says Avio CEO Giulio Ranzo, speaking to Radiocor on the €400 million capital increase proposed by the board of directors to shareholders. Ranzo does not comment ('It is not for me to express an opinion') on the hypothesis that the leading shareholder Leonardo (28.75%) might not join the operation, but emphasises: 'The board of directors has unanimously approved the operation. We believe that it will be a very beneficial operation for all shareholders because it will allow them to enter into an investment that gives them exposure to all the possible strong growth drivers that there are at the moment: both space and defence, both in Europe and the US. So we think it's a very good opportunity."

The resources raised by the recapitalisation,' the manager explained, 'will be used, in part, for the American project to build a factory to produce missile engines that will always exploit the solid production technology that is our core competence, and in part to strengthen the production chain of our European factories in order to quickly raise production volumes in both space and defence'.

The proposed capital increase is accompanied by a new business plan for the launcher company that estimates a 10-year growth in turnover of around 10% and ebitda of over 15%, prospects that will be detailed to the financial community in the coming weeks. "The targets are ambitious, but they are protected by a number of new things that we have done and contracts that we have brought home that are quite important, as well as an order book close to EUR 2 billion, which therefore gives visibility of a good part of the revenues for the next few years, and in any case this also gives investors visibility of what the future will be."

For 2025, Avio estimates net revenues in the range of 450-480 million Euro with an ebitda of 27-33 million (30-36 mln adjusted) and a net profit of 7-10 million. The order backlog is expected to be between 1.7 and 1.8 billion.