Thales first quarter sales rise 9%, reaffirms targets

PARIS (Reuters) - France's Thales reaffirmed financial goals as it posted an underlying 9.4% increase in first-quarter sales on Friday, led by civil aerospace and digital identity businesses.

Europe's largest defence electronics firm, which also makes civil avionics, in-flight entertainment systems and payment cards, said revenue reached 4.026 billion euros. Revenues from the Aerospace and Digital Identity & Security divisions increased 10.2% and 20.1%, respectively.

New orders rose by an underlying 14% to 3.422 billion euros, led by a 31% increase in Defense & Security and in particular a large order for a submarine subsystem from an unspecified buyer.

Chief Financial Officer Pascal Bouchiat said defence orders were driven by the overall geopolitical climate beyond the war in Ukraine, while travel demand - highlighted by brisk orders for new biometric passports - was supporting other activities.

"We see airlines in recovery mode with significant increases in traffic," Bouchiat told reporters.

Thales, however, struck a mixed note on supply chains.

The supply of parts is improving for the digital identity business, stable for other electronic components and under more pressure for some types of mechanical hardware, Bouchiat said.

For the full year, Thales targets organic sales up 4%-7%, an operating margin of 11.5%-11.8% and a book-to-bill ratio above 1.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; editing by Eileen Soreng)