Israel Aerospace Industry reported on Tuesday its most profitable half-year and quarter-year in its history.
According to a statement by the defense and aerospace company, sales rose by 22 percent in the first half of 2021 compared to the first half of 2020, reaching around $2.2 billion, resulting in a net income of $100 million.
Commenting on the figures, Harel Locker, IAI’s outgoing chairman of the board of directors, said of his four years in the position that “the company underwent a sharp business transformation. In the first two quarters of 2021, the company achieved its best business results ever, building on record profit and revenue in previous years.”
He added that “alongside our business achievements, we did not forget our basic values. During this time, we won four Israel Security Awards, launched the ‘Beresheet’ lunar lander, launched the Ofek 16 satellite to orbit, test-fired the Arrow 3 missile system in Alaska and reached many other groundbreaking technological achievements.”
IAI, he emphasized, is “a source of pride for Israel’s citizens, thanks to its technological and defense achievements. However, without commercial success, these achievements and the company’s tremendous contribution to Israel’s economy could not have been reached.”
The aerospace company employees some 15,000 people.
Boaz Levy, IAI’s president and CEO, said: “In addition to the military groups’ impressive results, we see signs of recovery from the COVID crisis in the Aviation Group, a rise in contracts for business jets, as well as positive influence from the rise of global trade ferried on recently converted passenger jets used as cargo planes. We have increased our investment in research and developments from company resources over the past two quarters, and our systems will continue to have a leading position in the future battlefield.”
