KNDS Nears Dual Listing as New Chairman Tom Enders Takes the Helm with Record €33bn Order Book

Franco-German defence group KNDS posts €33.1bn order backlog, 15% EBIT margin, and €4.4bn revenue as it prepares for a 2026 dual IPO in Frankfurt and Paris under new chairman Tom Enders.

The Franco-German defence group KNDS is entering the final stretch of its preparations for a dual listing in Frankfurt and Paris, and it now has both the numbers and the leadership to make a compelling pitch to investors. The company recently installed Tom Enders, the former Airbus chief, as chairman of its supervisory board, while Jean-Paul Alary took over as group chief executive. That shake-up at the top comes just as the group posts a record order book that gives it years of production visibility.

Revenue jumped 15.9% in 2025 to €4.4bn, with growth spread across all three business lines. Land Systems Germany brought in €2.5bn, up 17.4%, while Land Systems France contributed €1.3bn, a 9.6% rise. The munitions division posted the strongest expansion, with sales soaring 24.7% to €612m as European armies scramble to replenish stockpiles depleted by high-intensity conflicts. The company’s systems, including the Leopard 2 tank and Caesar howitzer, are now in service with more than 40 armed forces.

Profitability also improved sharply. Earnings before interest and taxes came in at €661m, lifting the EBIT margin to 15.0% from 13.2% a year earlier. Management attributed the gain to better operational efficiency and a larger share of high-margin export contracts. For prospective IPO investors, the margin is a critical metric: it shows the group can translate its bulging order book into real earnings.

That order book swelled from €23.5bn at the end of 2024 to €33.1bn by the close of 2025, driven by an intake of €13.5bn in new orders during the year. The backlog spans multiple European nations and extends well beyond the core German and French markets, giving KNDS exceptional revenue visibility. To handle the workload, the group expanded its workforce by 7.3% to roughly 11,000 employees and plans further hiring in 2026.

The dual listing is slated for later in 2026, pending market conditions. Management says internal preparations are on track and that the IPO is strategically necessary to raise capital for expanding production capacity, technology development, and research. With a record order book, rising margins, and a seasoned chairman overseeing the process, KNDS is positioning itself as one of the most conspicuous new entrants on Europe’s defence equity stage.