Hensoldt Appoints Veteran HR Chief as Record Orders Test Factory Floor

Hensoldt names Inka Tews as CHRO to tackle a talent bottleneck amid an €8.83B order backlog, as revenue growth lags surging demand and investor concerns mount.

Hensoldt is racing to scale its workforce just as fast as its order book is growing. The German sensor and defence specialist has named Inka Tews as its new Chief Human Resources Officer, a move that signals the company's recognition that people — not just production lines — are becoming a bottleneck.

Tews arrives with more than 25 years of human resources experience at international technology groups, most recently as Senior Vice President Human Resources at Infineon Technologies, where she oversaw global HR functions with a focus on business partnering. Her remit spans organisational development, post-merger integration, and leadership roles in North America. CEO Oliver Dörre underlined the strategic importance of the appointment, describing it as central to navigating the company's current growth phase.

The timing is no coincidence. Hensoldt's order backlog has swelled to €8.83 billion — up by more than a third year-on-year — after new orders surged 62 percent in 2025. Yet revenue grew only around 10 percent to €2.46 billion, producing a book-to-bill ratio of 1.9. That means nearly twice as many orders are landing as the company can ship, a gap that has left investors uneasy.

The contrast with a rival like Thales sharpens the picture. The French group reported first-quarter 2026 order intake of €4.65 billion, an adjusted increase of roughly 27 percent, with its defence segment jumping 75 percent to €2.24 billion. Hensoldt's shares, meanwhile, traded at €78.68 on the day of the HR announcement, up about 2.5 percent on the session but still well below the 52-week high of €115.10. The stock is up barely 3 percent year-to-date.

Management is fighting back with a €1 billion capital expenditure programme running through 2027, mostly in Germany. A new radar production site is scheduled to come online next year. To secure component supply, Hensoldt has signed a multi-year agreement with United Monolithic Semiconductors covering delivery of 900,000 gallium-nitride chips for radar systems such as the Spexer family through 2030.

The company also opened a new office in Ulm at the end of April 2026, designed to accommodate more than 400 employees and expand capacity for sensor and radar systems. That expansion is where Tews' mandate becomes critical: scaling headcount without letting organisational structure lag behind.

Political tailwinds remain strong. Germany's defence budget is expected to exceed €108 billion in 2026, and the European SAFE programme amounts to €150 billion. Hensoldt has stuck to its full-year guidance of around €2.75 billion in revenue and an adjusted EBITDA margin between 18.5 and 19 percent.

Analyst views are split. Deutsche Bank rates the stock a "Buy" with a €101 target, expecting solid operational results. Barclays is more cautious with an "Equal Weight" and €95 target, acknowledging Hensoldt's strength in air defence but flagging a seasonally weak start to the year. J.P. Morgan holds a Neutral rating but cut its target to €85, arguing the narrow EBITDA margin range leaves little room for error.

First-quarter 2026 results are due on 6 May, followed by the annual general meeting on 22 May. Analysts forecast revenue of roughly €493 million — nearly 25 percent higher than a year earlier — but an earnings per share loss of about €0.16, an improvement from the €0.26 loss in the prior-year period. The real focus will be on whether the adjusted EBITDA margin is tracking towards the annual target range. If it is, the shares could find a floor. If not, the gap between orders and output may keep weighing on sentiment.