Safran SA, the French manufacturer of aircraft equipment, reaffirmed its fiscal projections for 2024 on Thursday, while also providing forecasts for 2025 and 2028, indicating anticipated growth in both profits and revenues.
The company announced its intention to enhance shareholder returns, estimating a distribution of around 70% of Free Cash Flow (FCF) over the period of 2024 to 2028. This will include a 40% dividend payout and an additional five billion euros allocated for share buybacks to be canceled between 2025 and 2028.
In trading on the Paris stock exchange, Safran's shares declined by approximately 5%, reaching a price of 217.20 euros.
As it prepares for its 2024 Capital Markets Day, Safran expressed its commitment to achieving sustainable growth in earnings and cash flow.
For the 2024 fiscal year, Safran maintains its revenue expectation at 27.1 billion euros.
Looking forward to fiscal 2025 and assuming a constant business scope, the company anticipates approximately 10% revenue growth, with recurring operating income ranging from 4.7 billion to 4.8 billion euros and the generation of Free Cash Flow between 2.8 billion and 3.0 billion euros.
Projecting further into fiscal 2028, and again under a constant scope, Safran expects to achieve record performance with high single-digit compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in revenue from 2024 to 2028. It also forecasts recurring operating income to be between 6 billion and 6.5 billion euros in 2028.
CEO Olivier Andriès commented, "Our financial goals for 2028 reflect our confidence in sustained value creation. This is supported by the ramp-up in both Original Equipment (OE) and Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) markets, the seamless aftermarket transition from CFM56 engines to LEAP engines, and the profitable growth trajectory for our Equipment & Defense and Aircraft Interiors divisions. Our strong Free Cash Flow generation will allow us to enhance shareholder returns while also investing in growth and innovation to prepare for next-generation aircraft and decarbonization efforts."
