Good evening. I am Raphaël Gorgé, CEO of Groupe Gorgé, and I'm here to present the H1 2022 results, and I am here with Loïc Le Berre, Deputy CEO Finance of the group. Thank you for watching, and we will comment the striking point of H1 2022, starting with the operation. As you remember, the most important thing of H1 is the acquisition of iXblue, which is a major strategic movement for the group. Beside that, operation continued. Then we can come back on the order intake of this semester, which was quite good, almost doubled compared to last year if we talk about drones and system. EUR 60 million of new order this semester, divided in two equal parts.
It's a striking point of this semester. EUR 30 million new order were taken on existing contract. Either new order on existing contract or renewal of recurring revenue. Typically, as an example, our BENL contract now represents about EUR 500 million euro turnover, potential turnover compared to the initial amount, which was slightly lower than EUR 450 million. On the other side, EUR 3 million of new order intake in for new program, typically energy propulsion and conversion or pilot excite system, and also including higher volume of aerospace distress beacon. As you know, the large BENL program is one of the major development of the group, and the beginning of the year was satisfying regarding this contract.
Beginning of the year, we achieved the critical design review. Again, at the end of Q1, we made successful sea trial of the launch and recovery system, which was a important technical milestone reviewed with the clients. Last but not least, the inauguration of our new assembly site in Oostende, which soon become the flagship of the group. On this important program, the next step are for the end of this year and next year, continuing the prototype and trial phsse, and we'll soon start the production phase in this new factory in Oostende. The year after, 2024-2027, will be important regarding the delivery of the 12 complete robotic system.
On the left side of this slide, it's interesting to notice how many iXblue components are involved in this program. I will mention different type of sonar, positioning system, and INS, which are position and navigation system. The two companies are already collaborating in this important program. We talked a lot about this huge BENL program, but there are also other demining system. Latvia will be the first navy to be equipped with the first next-generation robotized mine hunting system. This contract won last year consists of three ships to equip with last generation drone system, three underwater drone A18, six identification drone SEASCAN, 30 consumable drone K-STER. The contract is going well. The critical design review has been achieved at the end of last year.
Recently, we had the factory acceptance tests in June 2022. The first delivery are expected early 2024. This was another highlight of the operation of the first half with, again, an increase, compared to the initial size of the order, that could now reach EUR 25 million, including maintenance and additional services. I will now leave the floor to Loïc, who will comment the figures.
Thank you, Raphaël. Before I begin the presentation, on this picture, you can see the new assembly line in Ostend, which was inaugurated in last June. I will now present the key elements of the financial performance for the first half of 2022. First, Drones and Systems. As already explained in our July press release, the Drones and Systems division has experienced strong growth during the first half of the year. This growth is essentially driven by the naval activities, which represent 70% of revenues, and this activity have grown by 16%. Onboard equipment for the aerospace industry, which represent 20% of revenues of the division, grew by 15%.
The overall growth of the division amounts to 7% with the other activities, apart from naval activities and onboard equipment, slowing down during the period. In terms of profitability. Current EBITDA reached the excellent rate of 90%. The division benefited from a big mix of activities favorable to margins and from the good execution of existing contracts. Operational expenses on autonomous mobile robots has continued to weigh on the margin, and this, along with the current very high level of spending on mine warfare tenders, represents an investment for the future of the division. Second division, Engineering & Protection Systems. The division represents one-third of the consolidated revenue of the group. Revenue growth reached 6% in the first half. It was particularly high in consulting and engineering in engineering activity, reaching 28%.
The fire protection activities were stable for sprinklers and slightly down for passive fire protection. Current EBITDA was 7%, a slight decline that does not reflect a long-term trend, but a timeline between cost increases and their passing on in sales prices. The nuclear outdoor activity is still loss-making, but I would remind you that since 2021, it has been accounted for a discontinued activity, and it is not included in the division. You can find our financial statements in our press release, and our half-year report will be soon available on our website. Here is a simplified income statement. The first half of 2022 is compared to the restated first half of 2021. The nuclear outdoors activity and the 3D printing division have been restated, and the perimeters are here, therefore comparable.
Consolidated revenues are up by 7%, and current EBITDA of EUR 14 million is stable, but the margin rate is slightly down, as already explained. Operating income of EUR 4.5 million is EUR 2 million lower than in 2021, but this is mainly due to the depreciation charge and EUR 1.4 million of costs related to the iXblue acquisition. Corporate income tax was significant at EUR 6 million. It includes a high level of deferred tax expense. The drone and system division is expected to exit from the tax group as a result of the acquisition of iXblue, because Groupe Gorgé will hold less than 95% of the shares. As a consequence, we cancel the valuation of tax losses carried forward.
Finally, the nuclear outdoor business continued to show a loss of EUR 2.8 million, and as a result of all those elements, the net result for the half year was minus EUR 5.6 million. Also, net income was negative. The cash position improved in the period. In 2021, the change in working capital was very unfavorable. During the first half of 2022, it was the opposite. The favorable change in working capital amounted to EUR 9 million and added to the operating cash flow, which amounted to EUR 11 million, which represents nearly EUR 20 million. At the same time, the level of investment remained high at EUR 8.5 million, but down by 30% compared to H1 2021.
Finally, the group had EUR 40 million cash available at the end of June, and the net debt has decreased by EUR 7 million during this period. Raphaël?
Thank you, Loïc. We can focus now on the mid- and long-term perspective, starting with the quick overview of the mine hunting market. As you all remember, during the last semester, I would say since two years, we are talking a lot about five or six projects that we are targeting in countries like Australia, Middle East, India, France, U.K., Canada. These are the contracts or potential offers we are working on. We thought it might be interesting to look with a wider scope to the whole world market of mine hunting ships. On all the navies, we can count 300 mine hunting ships in service in the potential market we are targeting.
What is interesting is that 70% of those ships have more than 20 years, we think an average of 30 years of service. Most of them will be renewed or replaced by more modern ones. Most of them will use robotic systems. We think that our group is especially well placed to gain a significant portion of this market. If we look at relatively short-term, we already have more than EUR 200 million of tenders ongoing. We think that the combination, ECA plus iXblue, is specially well-positioned to take a significant share of this market. The market of the future combined group is not limited to mine hunting. Typically, marine renewable energies will need a lot of drones and surveys.
The forecast by 2050 is 300 gigawatts, implying the mapping of some, like 50,000 square kilometers of ocean floor. You see that on the picture on the left, the DriX, which is the drone, the iXblue drone, in operation to map the floor of the offshore wind farm of Saint-Nazaire in France. This picture was taken in May. This solution of drone monitoring of ocean floor is particularly efficient before the installation of the wind farm and during the life of the wind farm. We see strong potential on this field. This is true on the surface, but it's also true in the bottom of the sea.
On civil application and defense application, it becomes more and more important to know and to be able to inspect what's going on in the very deep seas. Very deep mean below 3,000 meter and up to 6,000 meter. Because to understand what is going on, I would say what is the sea life, what are the natural resources in the bottom of the sea, but also, and probably more important in the actual context, monitoring the cables, energy and information cables, which are in the bottom of the sea, and that could be potentially a threat. It become more and more important to be able to go this deep.
The combination of the drone developed by iXblue and ECA is particularly well placed to benefit from this new market. To give you an idea, the financial and environmental costs of one survey ship is the equivalent of 100 survey drones in terms of efficiency and environmental impact. To give you some flavor of what could be this combination, a few days ago, we performed a first sea demonstration of a joint operation with the DriX USV and A18 AUV, representing what could be done by the two companies collaborating for those topics in geoscience. We can look now at this interesting video.
Leaders in the field of maritime autonomy, iXblue and ECA Group, develop high-performance payloads, equipment, and systems able to operate down to 6,000 meters. Both companies further develop maritime drones such as the A18-D autonomous underwater vehicle and the DriX uncrewed surface vehicle. Deployed together, the two drones act as a true force multiplier. Remotely supervised from an operational center via 4G or satellite communication, the two drones are able to communicate continuously thanks to the Gaps USBL acoustic subsea positioning system. Installed in the DriX USV gondola, it enables the surface drone to track and monitor the AUV while it conducts its autonomous survey or inspection mission. By sending real-time position data to the AUV via the Gaps USBL system, the DriX USV can correct the A18-D positional error caused by the drifting of the AUV inertial navigation system.
This enables the AUV to achieve its mission without needing to stop to realign. Thanks to this acoustic communication capability, the DriX USV can act as a relay between the remote operation center and the AUV to transmit new mission plans to the subsea drone. It can further retrieve the data collected by the AUV without having to wait for the subsea drone to resurface, enabling faster data transmission towards the operation center through high-bandwidth communication. Deploying multiple drones working together heralds great opportunities for seabed warfare and deep-sea exploration. Ensuring the safety of crew, these stealthy platforms increase operational range and allow multiple missions to be conducted simultaneously. This makes them critical technologies for nations worldwide in tackling seabed risks.
You can see that this combination, which is quite unique, is full of potential regarding those markets.
To conclude this presentation, I will come back to the closing of the acquisition, which is supposed to happen according to calendar, which mean probably at the end of September. In terms of guidance, we reiterate the perspective given early 2022, which mean for drone and system, revenue +10% to +20% turnover. The profitability should remain at good level, similar to last year. Engineering and protection system, we didn't talk a lot about this, but the current trajectory should proceed, and we are still working on the disposal of the nuclear business, which is still in a difficult situation. As I mentioned, on the iXblue operation, we are waiting for the last authorization, which was granted early September.
Both companies are already starting to work together and prepare the integration and the implementation of synergy in order to be ready to start immediately after closing. To mention also, we did another demonstration for subsea asset tracking for a Polish naval academy in July. We are excited to open this new page of the history of the group. We are now Loïc and myself ready to answer to your question. Thank you.
If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. The first question comes from the line of Aurélien Sivignon of Oddo. Please go ahead.
Yes, good evening, and thank you for taking my questions. I have three. My first question is about the drone and systems EBITDA margin. Is there any significant impact from a wage increase that will also explain the decline year-on-year in H1? Secondly, it is quite clear that iXblue should be consolidated from next month, early October. Considering the one-offs related to the acquisition, would you expect this three-month integration being neutral or not on the Groupe Gorgé profitability for 2022? Finally, about the ongoing reorganization you just mentioned in engineering and protection systems division, is there any progress on the disposal with Baumert and also regarding the other activity, the other EPS division? Thank you.
Loïc, you can take the two first ones.
Yes. The first one was regarding the current EBITDA. Of course, we incurred some difficulties to recruit as all other companies in France. There is a pressure on the wages and on all the costs of the company. We are in a strong position, and it is possible to revise the price of our contracts with our clients. It is often included in the contract. We already pass on increases of the prices with all the clients of the aerospace industry. The second question was regarding the consolidation of iXblue. iXblue will be consolidated beginning in October after the closing. It will be only consolidated for three months, but we will prepare consolidated pro forma accounts.
The consolidation for three months should be profitable for the group. The last question was regarding the progress with Baumert.
Yes. I think that there was also a question regarding the one-off cost. I think that there will still be some one-off costs regarding the acquisition.
Yes. There will be the end of the one-off costs regarding the acquisitions, with the cost of the banks and the lawyers in the second half of the year.
Regarding the disposal of other activities, we first focus on closing the acquisition of iXblue, which requested a lot of attention and work. Yes, we are still working on the simplification of the activities of the group to increase the visibility and clarity of the activities. I hope we can reveal some progress on this field. As I mentioned, first step is closing the acquisition.
Okay. Thanks to both of you.
There are no questions on the line. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one. The next question comes from the line of Thomas Renaud of Société de Bourse Gilbert Dupont.
Hello, everyone. Can you hear me well?
Yes.
Can you hear me? Can you hear me or not?
Yes.
Thank you. Three questions for me. The first one on the P&L part, can we have some details about the loss in the financial result at EUR 1.3 million compared to last year. Second question about the EBITDA margin and the autonomous systems activity. Can we have the amount, the OpEx linked to the tender offers. A look to the outlook, and you have some details about the addressable market on the wind energy and hydrography. Thank you.
First regarding the EBITDA margin, the tender offers represent a cost of more than EUR 700K during the first half. It is very high during the period. The second question was regarding the financial loss, which amounts to EUR 1.3 million compared to EUR 0.8 million last year. It is due to the level of the financial interest on the syndicated loan, which has been implemented in the first half of 2021. The evolution of the cash is favorable during the first half of the year, but it has improved during the last two months.
The first half of the year was very disappointing as cash is concerned. The third question was related to the outlook.
Yes, the outlook on markets like renewable and hydrography. We consider that the hydrography market is very similar in terms of size to the mine hunting market, which means that we consider that the potential market is in billions, a few billion EUR over the next 10 years. If we consider that we will have the same evolution of hydrography using more and more drones and robotic systems to perform their mission. iXblue is definitely a well-established player in this field, so we think that we will benefit from this. The renewable market and typically wind farms are emerging. The use of drones is increasing.
It's hard to figure exactly what would be the size, but we also think, due to the size of the surface that has to be monitored, that it could need the use of significant tens of drones all over the world.
Okay. Very helpful. Thank you.
We currently have no questions on the line. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one. We currently have no questions on the line. You can press star one to ask your question.
If we have no more question, I would like to thank you for watching this webcast. I think and I hope that we will soon come back to you for the closing of iXblue, which should happen very soon, very soon. Thank you very much for watching.