Annual and Sustainability Report 2024
The geopolitical security landscape remains unusually uncertain, making it difficult to predict the future, but we are fully focused on delivering on our record order backlog and expect continued high demand for our portfolio.
I am pleased to report that 2024 was a strong year for Saab. We delivered better than expected sales growth, improved our operational performance, and generated positive cash flow. We achieved all this while investing significantly in expansion to meet higher customer demand and strengthening our market position. In the wake of the global geopolitical uncertainty, Saab is committed to being a reliable partner, supporting countries in strengthening their defense capabilities and contributing to increased European defense capacity.
Building on last year’s strong order intake, we further strengthened our order backlog, which amounted to SEK 187 billion (153) in 2024. Order bookings increased 24% year-over-year with significant increases in our business areas Dynamics and Surveillance. Demand for our products and systems remains high. In our Aeronautics business, interest for the Gripen E fighter is high with several ongoing campaigns for fighter aircraft acquisitions. In Dynamics, our entire portfolio is experiencing strong demand, with particular interest in Ground Combat, Missile Systems, and Training & Simulation.
Customer demand for the Surveillance portfolio is also strong with notable interest in our Airborne Early Warning & Control system GlobalEye. With our underwater systems, submarines, and surface ship capabilities in Kockums, we are well positioned for future opportunities. Sales for the full year amounted to SEK 64 billion with a sales growth of 24%. The strong sales performance was a result of unusually high customer deliveries and fast shipments of new orders. Operating income for the year increased to SEK 5.6 billion (4.3) and the operating margin of 8.9% exceeded last year’s margin of 8.3%. This was supported by the higher sales volumes and improved scale and efficiency, while maintaining our priority on R&D investments in software-driven technologies, autonomy, and AI-powered capabilities.
During the year, we had several innovative product launches. Among these, we showcased the Compact Radar Module for the Giraffe 1X radar as an all-in-one solution. Moreover, we announced the Sirius Compact L20C, a new addition to Saab’s tactical Electronic Warfare sensor family. On the naval side, we introduced the Autonomous Ocean Core, a control system to provide autonomy capabilities to surface and naval platforms. All of this is the result of our dedicated people.
Looking ahead, the geopolitical security landscape remains unusually uncertain, making it difficult to predict the future. We are fully focused on delivering on our record order backlog and expect continued high demand for our portfolio and see opportunities to accelerate Saab’s development by further bringing forward significant investments to increase capacity. Reflecting this, we raised our medium-term target for organic sales growth to around 18% (CAGR) and reduced our cumulative cash conversion target to at least 60% for the period 2023-2027. Our outlook for the full year 2025 is an organic sales growth between 12-16%, EBIT higher than the organic sales growth, and positive cash flow.
During the year, Saab continued to make progress towards its goal of becoming a sustainability leader in the defense industry. We achieved a majority of the targets set out in the sustainability strategy. To further enhance transparency, we are publishing our first Sustainability Report inspired by the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). We will continue our initiatives to drive positive environmental and social impact in 2025, including our commitment to achieving long-term, science-based climate targets.
I would like to thank our employees for their hard work and contributions throughout the year. The addition of nearly 3,000 talented new employees will further strengthen deliveries to our customers and secure continued growth.