Shares of Astra Microwave jumped 5% on Friday, ahead of the earnings announcement. The Hyderabad-based maker of radars, missile electronics, and satellite systems now reported an orderbook of ₹1,960 crore, more than twice the total revenue for the financial year ended March 2024. It expects another ₹350 crore worth of orders in the three months ending March 2025.

The management was confident that it would achieve the guidance of at least ₹1,100 crore in revenue for the current financial year ending in March. “We have clear visibility for ₹1,300 crore to ₹1,500 crore of new orders, including exports, in FY26,” Managing Director S Gurunatha Reddy said.

Here’s the break-up of the new orders, by vertical, as projected by the management in the earnings call reported on Saturday (February 8).

One of the big orders that the company, with a market capitalisation of ₹7,000-crore, expects is from the state-owned Bharat Electronics that makes, among other things, surface-to-air missiles for the Indian Army and Navy, and contracts some of its work to Astra Microwave.

The Bengaluru-based BEL, one of the 16 companies under the Ministry of Defence, recently said that its orderbook would more than double to ₹25,000 crore between December 2024 and March 2025

. The resulting opportunity, assuming BEL achieves its goal, could be in the tune of ₹1,700 crore to  ₹1,900 crore next year for Astra Microwave, according to Reddy.

The management also revealed that it is in talks with a global manufacturer for a large contract. “It is too premature to inform you about the contract size. We may be able to share more about it in the next few months,” Reddy added.

The company’s profitability has also increased substantially in recent years. The EBITDA margin has gone up from 11.8% at the end of March 2022 to 21.4% at the end of March 2024. The figure had climbed to 29.1% in the December quarter. The management said that it expects to retain margin at the current level through the next financial year too.

EBITDA stands for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation.

One of Astra’s marquee projects include the contract to make one of the radar systems for India’s first indigenously made fighter jet Tejas, which currently uses Israeli radar systems. However, the revenue from the contract may only start flowing in the next financial year.

Read more: HAL, BEL, shares gain on hopes of more orders in FY25