Vincorion Diversifies with Winch and EU Energy Projects as Cash Flow Squeeze Takes Centre Stage

Vincorion reports 40% revenue surge to €69M, record €1.2B order book, but free cash flow swings to -€7.1M amid capacity expansion. Stock deeply oversold (RSI 22).

The defence and aerospace supplier is adding two new growth engines — an electric rescue winch and a micro-grid system for military camps — even as it rushes to turn a record order book into cash. The market will be watching closely when half-year results land on 12 August.

Vincorion has signed a memorandum of understanding with Heli-One to bring an electric hoist system to series production. The ERH premier is designed for a 303-kilogram load at a hoisting speed of two metres per second, targeting land and sea rescue missions. It will debut on the Airbus H145 helicopter, marking a rare civilian push for a company that has spent four decades making winches for military and commercial rotorcraft. Heli-One will handle maintenance and repair from its Norwegian base. The aviation segment contributed €13.7 million in first-quarter revenue — steady, but still a fraction of the group’s total.

That military core, meanwhile, is firing on all cylinders. First-quarter revenue jumped 40.1% to €69.0 million, compared with €49.3 million a year earlier. Adjusted EBIT climbed 30% to roughly €12.4 million. Order intake surged to €149.4 million from just under €39 million, pushing the backlog to a record €1.2 billion — enough to cover more than 90% of the full-year revenue target.

But the ramp-up has a price. Free cash flow swung to minus €7.1 million from plus €1.6 million in the prior year, squeezed by a €10.7 million increase in working capital and higher capital expenditure. Investment spending doubled to €2.1 million as the company expands capacity in Germany and the US. Management insists the cash strain is temporary and plans to fund the expansion from operations, ruling out a capital increase or new debt.

The second non-defence leg comes from Brussels. Vincorion is part of the SENTINEL consortium, backed by €39.9 million from the European Defence Fund. The project aims to make mobile field camps less dependent on external infrastructure. The company will supply a 50-kilowatt generator module and an equally powerful storage unit, plus intelligent grid controls. The consortium includes 42 partners from 16 countries, from research institutes to defence ministries. Initial testing starts at the University of the Bundeswehr in Munich, followed by phases in the Netherlands and Aruba. Success could open the door to larger NATO procurement programmes.

On the stock market, the tension between operational strength and cash weakness is visible. The shares closed at €18.39 on Thursday, down 4.57% over 30 days. The relative strength index of 22.1 signals deeply oversold territory. One structural overhang remains: majority shareholder STAR Capital holds 47.5% and is locked up until autumn 2026. At a market capitalisation of roughly €1.1 billion, any eventual unwinding could weigh on the stock. For now, institutional backers Fidelity International, Invesco and T. Rowe Price each own around 4%, while cornerstone commitments of about €105 million provide a buffer.

Vincorion still guides for full-year revenue of €280-320 million and an adjusted EBIT margin of 18-19%. The mid-term target is annual revenue growth above 15% with a margin around 20%. The half-year report on 12 August will test two things: whether the cash flow recovers after the initial ramp-up, and whether the margin lands at the upper end of the range. A clean result would give the new projects — the rescue winch and the EU-backed micro-grid — far more credibility with investors.