This conference will be recorded.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the RENK Group AG 9M 2025 results analyst call. At this time, all participants have been placed on a listen-only mode. The floor will be open for questions following the presentation. Let me now turn the floor over to your host, Christian Weiß, Investor Relations.
Thank you very much, Operator, and good morning, good afternoon, good evening, everyone, everywhere, wherever you are joining us today, and welcome to our nine-month 2025 results conference call. Joining me today are our CEO, Dr. Alexander Sagel, and our CFO, Anja Mänz-Siebje [CFO]. Alexander and Anja will take you through the highlights of the quarter, our financials, and the outlook. Afterwards, we will open the floor to your questions. Now, I will hand over to Alexander. Please go ahead.
Thank you, Christian. Thank you very much for the warm welcome and especially for this international word in order to consider that we are a global community. Ladies and gentlemen, also from my side, a very warm welcome and many thanks for joining today's conference call. Today's presentation consists, like always, of three parts. Firstly, we will provide a quick review of the highlights and financial performance of the first nine months of 2025. I will take over this part by myself. Secondly, we will guide you then through our key financials in more detail, including Q3 figures. Anja will take over this part.
Thirdly, taking into account that we are only one week away from our 2025 Capital Markets Day, here in Augsburg, we would like to comment only very briefly on our guidance for 2025, on upcoming key order intakes for the rest of the year to meet in Q4 2025, as well to have a little look on the first half of 2026, as well as our main focus points for the last quarter of this year. Now, ladies and gentlemen, let's move into the presentation. Let me start with the highlights of the past nine months. First, a very important takeaway. The top line remains strong, and we are seeing ongoing growth in the order intake. For Q3 year to date, order intake expanded strongly to more than EUR 1.2 billion, corresponding to a solid book-to-bill ratio of 1.3 times.
On the right-hand side of the slide, you can see the main driver for this positive order intake development, and some of them, I'm sure, are quite familiar to you, but I will nevertheless make a little run through these programs. Starting with the SOF3 framework agreement with our HMPT transmissions, in total year to date at EUR 235 million, where EUR 56 million came in during Q3. Various international Navy orders, EUR 105 million in total, with new contracts in Q3, including a larger contract for RAMI, RENK America Marine Industry, formerly Synthetic Hearing Systems. VDA spare parts, many for Leopard users, but also IFV, with approximately EUR 75 million, therefore EUR 15 million during Q3 booked. Then K2 Poland, where we do continue our success story and booked a further contract with EUR 15 million during Q3.
Following one of our latest press releases, we already booked another batch of the K2 during the first week of October. We also should not forget a few larger contracts for an international customer during the first half year 2025, with a total order intake of EUR 130 million for transmissions and engines. Regarding specifically Q3, we also booked a second batch of transmissions for the Ajax programs, for the Baltics, or to be more precise, for Latvia, as well as engines for the Turkish Fırtına howitzer. Not unexpected, and as a logical consequence, the total order backlog continued to grow in the third quarter, reaching a new record level of EUR 6.4 billion and providing increased visibility for the coming years. Looking next to the main driver of our group performance, our defense business.
During the first nine months of 2025, the defense business grew by 48% in terms of order intake and 25% in terms of revenue compared to the same period last year. A major highlight of the third quarter and a very important milestone to prepare for increasing capacity requirements, but also efficiency gains, was the launch of our modular production concept here in Augsburg. Our COO, Dr. Emmerich Schiller, will provide more details on this during next week's Capital Markets Day. Finally, the launch of our two new transmission concepts during Q3, the O76 transmission as well as the 406 transmission, was just as important as the new modular production concept and demonstrating the focused execution of our next-gen mobility roadmap. Going on the next slide, slide number two, which summarizes the group's performance for the first nine months of the current financial year.
Overall, all presented financial KPIs continue to show a very positive development to new all-time highs. Starting from the left to right, and as already mentioned before, order intake increased significantly to EUR 1.246 billion for the first nine months. Worthwhile to mention that looking at the last four quarters, so talking about Q4 2024 up to Q3 2025, we recorded order intakes of over EUR 1.8 billion. A very strong performance indeed. Revenue grew year to date, September 2025, by 19% to EUR 928 million. As mentioned during the pre-close call, revenue in Q3 was somehow softer due to the planned and needed production changeover in Augsburg. In line with previous quarters, adjusted EBIT increased overproportionally by 25% to EUR 141 million and was driven by operational improvements, resulting in a further improved adjusted EBIT margin by 0.8 percentage points to 15.2%.
Furthermore, no major changes in our revenue allocation year to date regarding our two sectors, so talking about defense and civil, with approximately three-quarters of our business related to defense and also our new business versus aftermarket ratio. On the next page, you can see a quick before-and-after comparison of the main changes in our final assembly line for land transmissions in Augsburg. On the left side, you can see the old, somehow chaotic-looking assembly area, while the changes are clearly visible in the picture on the right side. Clear back-end loading of the entire parts logistics, lean and clean. The modular production concept will not only provide us more flexibility regarding the different transmission types, but also will increase capacity, realizing higher efficiency gains, and defines a new standard within the RENK production system.
The changeover in our production started approximately 12 months ago , and again, as planned and with a planned reduced output during Q3, and therefore we are more than happy to present it to you if you want live and in color during our upcoming Capital Markets Day in Augsburg. The execution of our so-called next-gen mobility roadmap is key in order to secure our leading market position regarding market share and technology. The newly developed O76 transmission was launched in September during the defense show in London and is specifically designed for light track platforms between 10-20 tons, including future tracked UGVs, ensuring a superior mobility of up to 90 km per hour, plus a compact and lightweight design below 800 kg.
The modular 406 transmission is setting new performance and modularity standards for future MBT platforms and was introduced to the market during a media roundtable in August. Very important to note that both transmissions are fully prepared for drive-by-wire and autonomous applications by digitalization. Let's move quickly on to slide number five. As you all know, our defense sector is the core of our business and the main driving force behind our group performance. The top line is strong, and order intake increased during the first nine months by 48% to EUR 932 million, while in the same period, revenue grew by +25% to EUR 690 million, converting order backlog into revenues. Now let's move on to slide number six, if I'm correct. Yeah, it's six. And having a quick look on the segment performance and starting with the VMS segment.
VMS remains the largest and most important segment in terms of order intake, revenue, and adjusted EBIT , revenue, and of course, adjusted EBIT. For the first nine months of 2025, we achieved an order intake of EUR 904 million and a strong book-to-bill ratio of 1.6 times. Revenue climbed to EUR 579 million, representing a year-over-year revenue growth of 25%. The going live of our new modular production concept was mentioned before, and we can furthermore summarize that all relevant customer projects are performing according to schedules and deliverables. Let me continue now with our M&I segment. The performance was very solid, particularly in Q3. The financial performance was mainly driven by the naval business, while the industrial business continues to suffer from a GDP-dependent, weak overall market environment. Order intake for the first nine months amounted to EUR 255 million, and revenues rose by 18% to EUR 268 million.
It is positive to mention that our newly integrated RAMI , RENK America Marine Industry, formerly Synthetic Hearing Systems, contributed to this positive development not only with a new contract for the so-called ship-to-shore connector for the US Navy, but also with a solid aftermarket revenue contribution. Last but not least, a few comments to our slide bearing segment. The trend from the second quarter has emerged to a certain extent, and similar to our industrial transmission segment, slide bearings is also suffering from a difficult and GDP-dependent, weak overall market environment. As already mentioned in the pre-close call, we were facing certain operational issues, which were mainly related to problems with staffing during Q3 and affecting the output level. We are working to resolve this, having launched a recruitment campaign, and we are positive to regain momentum and return to its usual strengths as we move into next year.
Now coming to the last slide of my today's introduction, our total order backlog. For the first nine months of 2025, we could grow our total order backlog to a new record level of EUR 6.4 billion, approximately EUR 1.4 billion above FY 2024 level level and corresponding to approximately five times LTM revenue. Compared to the end of 2024, we could also increase the fixed order backlog by almost EUR 300 million, driven by the mentioned strong order intake, which more than compensates for increased output levels from our operations. Our soft order backlog increased to EUR 3.2 billion compared to EUR 2.2 billion at the end of 2024 and is also including first-gen programs but also international programs. Having said this, I would like now to hand over to Anja in order to have a deeper look into 9M and the quarterly figures. Anja, over to you. Thank you, Alexander.
A very warm welcome from my side, Anja . In line with our usual format, I will start with our group performance. Then I will guide you through our segments and the nine-month and Q3 metrics. Order intake maintained its strong momentum, increasing by around 45% compared to the same nine-month period of the previous year. In absolute terms, this corresponds to EUR 1.2 billion in new orders, up from EUR 858 million in 2023. This extremely strong performance is primarily driven by our Vehicle Mobility Solutions segment, as previously mentioned by Alexander, and remains consistent with the high levels seen in prior quarters. Group revenue reached EUR 928 million at the end of the nine-month period, reflecting a strong increase of around 19% or EUR 150 million compared to the same period last year. VMS accounted for EUR 150 million of this growth, underscoring its continued and growing strategic importance.
The first quarter delivered around 15% revenue increase, reaffirming the solid growth trajectory established in prior quarters. As highlighted by Alexander Sagel, we further extended our fixed order backlog by EUR 303 million over the past nine months, an impressive achievement in conjunction with our enhanced operational performance and higher output levels. Over the nine-month period, we achieved an adjusted gross profit of EUR 261 million, up EUR 44 million, or around 20% compared to last year. This increase once again exceeded revenue growth, reflecting the continued success of our operational improvements. Higher production volumes, economy of scales, and in particular, the strong performance of our defense business were drivers for that momentum. Our plants in Muskegon and Augsburg confirmed their tangible productivity gains, while M&I and slide bearings provided a solid contribution to our nine-month margin extension.
Adjusted EBIT rose to EUR 141 million, marking a notable 25.5% improvement versus the prior year period's EUR 112 million. This strong performance illustrates the resilience of our cost discipline and the operating leverage embedded in our business model. The adjusted EBIT margin expanded to around 15% compared with around 14% a year earlier, evidence of the group's ability to consistently convert scale gains into higher profitability. In terms of our financial position, net debt increased to EUR 435 million, up 16% from EUR 375 million at year-end 2024, while the leverage ratio remained stable at 1.7 times LTM adjusted EBITDA. This development reflects our growth-driven working capital requirements and the elevated activity levels across our operations. Overall, our capital structure remained solid, providing the flexibility needed to sustain momentum into the final quarter. Now let's have a more detailed look into our segments.
VMS maintained its outstanding growth pattern and performed well across all key metrics and performed well across all key metrics. Order intake for the nine-month period reached EUR 904 million, marking a 65% year-on-year increase from EUR 548 million in the prior year period. This impressive growth reflects ongoing demand related to defense, with Q3 contributing EUR 223 million in additional orders. The book-to-bill ratio stood at 1.6 times in the first nine months, underscoring the promising future revenue outlook. Revenue advanced to EUR 579 million, a substantial increase of around 25% compared to EUR 464 million a year earlier, reaffirming VMS's position as the primary driver of the group's top-line growth. The positive revenue development was supported by robust volume output and continued high economies of scale at our Muskegon and Augsburg sites, where operational execution remains a clear strength. Earnings performance also remained very encouraging.
Adjusted EBIT rose to EUR 105 million, representing a 36% improvement from EUR 77 million in the prior year period. As I have already mentioned, the adjusted EBIT margin climbed to around 18% compared to 16.6%, highlighting significant operating leverage and sustained cost discipline. On a quarterly level, Q3 achieved an EBIT margin of 20%, following 17.5% in Q2, underscoring VMS's ability to translate revenue growth into profitability. Let's have a look at M&I. Our M&I segment continued its solid performance during the first nine months of 2025. Order intake increased to EUR 255 million, up around 18% year-on-year from EUR 216 million in the same period last year. The segment's navy solution remained a reliable and steady contributor to the group's revenue prospects. The book-to-bill ratio stood close to 1.0 times in the first nine months, confirming a balanced demand pattern and continued stability.
Revenue advanced to EUR 268 million, reflecting a 15% increase , reflecting a 15% increase compared to EUR 232 million a year earlier. Growth was primarily driven by the navy business, which maintained strong momentum and more than offset the subdued development in industry-related solutions. The third quarter contributed notably with EUR 92 million in revenue, representing a significant 31% quarterly increase. Also, profitability improved significantly. Adjusted EBIT rose by around 35% to EUR 31 million compared to EUR 23 million in the previous year's nine-month period. The adjusted EBIT margin increased to 11.6%, up from 10%, reflecting the positive impact of the business mix shift towards navy solutions. On a quarterly basis, Q3 achieved an EBIT margin of 13.4%, up from 11.1% in Q2. The key takeaway is that M&I maintained its average margin at the level seen before the second quarter.
However, it should also be noted that M&I benefited from a one-off effect of EUR 1.5 million from a one-off effect of EUR 1.5 million due to an insurance payment received. Let's move to slide bearings. Slide bearings produced a solid performance, although we experienced some negative factors. Order intake totaled EUR 96 million, representing a decline of around 9% compared to EUR 106 million in the previous year's period. Demand for E and marine bearings remained robust overall, though the timing of individual projects led to a dip in Q3 compared to the prior year's quarter. The book-to-bill ratio remains around 1.0 times in the nine-month period, confirming a balanced and steady order position. Revenue for the nine-month period remained virtually unchanged at EUR 92 million. This outcome was realized although the sector faces the same GDP-related challenges in the industrial sector as M&I.
In addition, some open positions in the operational department put some pressure on our production output, which was addressed by subsequent hiring programs. You can see a corresponding revenue dip in Q3, which contributed EUR 29 million, moderately below last year's level. Adjusted EBIT amounted to EUR 15 million, down around 9% year-on-year from EUR 16 million, corresponding to an adjusted EBIT margin of around 16% versus 17.6% in the prior year's period. On a nine-month basis, this is still above group-level average. On a quarterly basis, Q3 reported a margin of 14.9%, following 16% in Q2, reflecting a reduced aftermarket share and the lower utilization of our asset base due to the Q3 revenue dip. Now let's update you on our adjustments. Group operating profit came in at EUR 95.5 million after EUR 58.3 million in the prior year. The drivers continue to be revenue growth, economies of scale, and cost discipline.
After adjusting for the effects of PPA, operating profit was EUR 129.1 million , operating profit was EUR 129.1 million compared to EUR 91.4 million at the end of Q3 fiscal year 2024. Adjustment came in at a significantly lower level than the prior year and mainly relates to global process and system improvements, whereas the corresponding period of the prior year was mainly impacted by our efficiency programs. In total, we recorded an adjusted EBIT of EUR 141 million in the nine-month period against EUR 112 million in the comparative period. Let me continue with a detailed look at our networking capital development. Our networking capital at the end of the third quarter stood at EUR 343 million compared to EUR 284 million at the end of December 2024. The main driver of this change was the build-up of inventory, which rose by EUR 86.8 million.
Beyond cut-off effects, this increase primarily reflects work-in-progress from the growing order backlog, as well as the stocking of critical input materials. The net impact from other working capital items amounted to around EUR 28 million, also influenced by cut-off effects. Consequently, net working capital as a percentage of LTM sales stands at 26.6% compared to 24.9% at the end of December 2024. We remain comfortable with this level given our revenue growth and foreseeable customer demand. Nevertheless, we are committed to bringing this ratio down over time and continue to identify net working capital reduction measures. Let's move to free cash flow. An adjusted EBITDA significantly is in excess of the prior year's levels, more than offsets the increase in the net working capital, while the combined impact of the other factors shown in the chart resulted in a free cash flow over the period of EUR 26 million.
Capital expenditure relating to property, plant, and equipment amounted to EUR 16 million, representing 1.7% of revenue, well below our benchmark level of approximately 3% and the prior year's level of 3.3%. Once again, I also would like to highlight the positive effects of our reduced tax liability due to the control and profit transfer agreement between RENK Group AG and RENK GmbH. These measures enabled us to make use of the tax loss carryforwards that accumulated in RENK Group AG. The same is true for U.S. interest carryforwards, now usable thanks to a debt-to-equity conversion related to our U.S. entity. Interest payments are significantly down and represent a normalized level. Taking all components into account, free cash flow for the nine-month period was positive at around EUR 26 million, and in the prior period we had seen a cash outflow of around EUR 4 million. Thank you for your attention.
Once again, it was a pleasure, and I would like to hand over to Anja Yeah, thank you, Anja, for the good report. Now, a few words to our outlook for the rest of the year 2025. Regarding our 2025 guidance and based on our nine-month 2025 performance and what we expect for the remainder of the year, we do confirm both revenues of more than EUR 1.3 billion and an adjusted EBIT between EUR 210 million-EUR 235 million for 2025. Please keep in mind that the export ban to Israel has not yet impacted significantly the third quarter. However, it will affect Q4, resulting in a loss of revenues in the lower double digit. Regarding our new midterm targets for 2030, I would like to refer to our upcoming capital market day next week.
Moving to slide 21, which is quite busy, but I would like to try at least to provide you a very brief overview of some of our key order intake programs for the coming months and quarters. For the last quarter of 2025, we do expect some further important contracts, such as for the Puma and the Kodiak recovery tanks for Germany, a major naval R&D project also from Germany, but also aftermarket volumes for Ukraine for the first time, and Europe. Last but not least, an MBT test rig for the Dutch MOD. Let me comment, please, on two points. First, on this intended Puma contract, we do not talk about new vehicles here. We do talk about additional orders for the existing circular reserve in regards to transmission.
The second comment on the Ukrainian aftermarket contracts, which is in this form we have seen for the first time now, we already booked a frame contract during the fourth quarter between RENK Germany and the Ukrainian MOD for spare parts and spare transmissions in the range. I mean, if you talk about the total range of the frame contract, high double-digit EUR figures of revenue. On top, we expect a further business contract to serve local US components, for example, the HMPT transmission locally in Ukraine with a local Ukrainian partner. To be really clear, this is the first time that we see and have these kinds of contracts regarding aftermarket from Ukraine. A larger MBT transmission contract for an international customer most likely will shift into Q1 2026.
The SOAR 4 framework agreement has the largest order volume, estimated between $800 million and $1 billion over approximately three years and maybe two additional years as an option. However, driven by the U.S. shutdown, we do expect to see a delay into Q1 2026. Please keep in mind the order intake of this frame contract will come on a year-by-year basis. Moving into the first half of 2026, we do expect to see some major orders from key customers like Germany; we discussed this in the past, Poland and Italy, for example. In Germany, we do expect to see the first major orders for new vehicles for main programs like the Puma, the Boxer, the Leopard family, but also the Panzerhaubitzer 2000, while we do also expect a further larger contract again for the Polish K2 MBT.
The large Italian IFV and MBT programs are scheduled for the middle of 2026, and we also expect additional orders from an international customer for our AVDS engines . For the navy segment, we also expect some larger orders for international customers. We cannot disclose these international customers, apologies, during Q1 and Q2 2026. Ladies and gentlemen, we are almost done, so let's move to the next slide. The statements here, I think, are very clear. The main drivers for the last quarter of 2025 are crystal clear and absolutely straightforward. Full focus on Q4 performance regarding operational performance, output, and financial KPIs. Capture pending order intakes and proceed on important business development and R&D programs. Ongoing monitoring of potential M&A opportunities.
Last but not least, preparing for the expected upcoming Bundeswehr and European programs regarding further market intelligence, such as platforms, timings, volumes, budgets, etc., but also the consequent execution of our production strategy and capacity expansion. Sorry for my voice; I have a cold , by the way. Before we move to the Q&A session, let me briefly recap the key points of today's call. First, RENK has shown a strong nine-month performance, driven by a strong top line, record order intake, and focused operational execution. We therefore do confirm our guidance for 2025. Second, we are a defense company, and our growing defense business is the main driver of our group performance. Third, we are getting prepared for the expected increasing volumes in Europe. The execution of our production strategy is key, and the launch of our modular production concept in Augsburg during Q3 defines a very important milestone.
Fourth and final, technology is driving our business and success. The execution of our next mobility roadmap is highly important, and Q3 also marked an important milestone here. Before we go finally on the Q&A session, a few concluding comments on our financial calendar. Our capital market activities continue to be very busy, and we are looking forward to meeting a lot of you in the next couple of weeks and months. Certainly, a highlight will be our second capital market day next week here in Augsburg, with hopefully much more color on strategy, financial ambitions, capacity ramp, our production strategy, technology, M&A, and much more. I think some very interesting guest speakers in the evening before, a former German general and also on the day itself, a CEO from a leading prime from Europe. I do not want to make more advertisement for this event. Please join.
Thank you very much for your attention, and we are now looking forward to your questions. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to ask a question, please press 9 and the star key on your telephone keypad. If you would like to cancel your question, please press 3 and the star key. Please press 9 and the star key on your telephone if you would like to ask a question. The first question is from Sam Burgess. Sam Burgess, the floor is yours. Great. Thank you very much for taking the questions. I just got two, if that's okay. Firstly, on CapEx, I think your previous expectations were for CapEx to be between 2%-3% of sales.
I guess unless you have an abnormally high seasonal CapEx in Q4, then you're going to come in right at the bottom end of that range, most likely, if not below. Can you just give us maybe a little bit of color on why this is going to be so low and whether that's sustainable into 2026? The second question, clearly you are very close with the German customer. At this stage, how much visibility have you been given on their order intentions by platform type maybe over the next 5 to 10 years? Thank you. Did I get you correct on the CapEx question? Yes. Anja, should you answer? Yes. I would like to take that question. Thanks. Yes. Compared to prior year, we are a little bit low until the third quarter, and actually we are back and loaded this year with CapEx. Yeah.
We fully intend to really have the 3% of revenue as our usual thing is. It could be, though, that depending on the inflow of the machines and so on, we might have some cut-off topics. If everything goes well, we should kind of be in our usual range. Yeah. Just to underline it, I mean, as always said, we are staying on our till the 3% average CapEx demand between 2024 and 2030. Also in this year, including the backend loading, we will be on this level, and I think this is exactly the execution of our production strategy. I hope this answered your question, at least the first part. The second part on the German programs, of course, we are getting more color on this, and we are more than happy to share much more detailed information on our capital market day.
What you have seen during the last weeks, especially here on the German parliament, the approvals of relevant platforms where RENK is on, I mean, if you talk about the Boxer, so the Schakal family, if you talk about the MadeVac Boxer variants, if we see in the next four to six weeks, we do expect that the German parliament is approving also the project to increase and to procure the second batch of the Puma. You might have heard that today, in this week, the German Bundestag is taking care and finalizing the budget for 2026, and there will be significant increases for the spending for armored military platforms. We do expect that, as we already said, we always indicated a potential between EUR 1 billion-EUR 2 billion for new vehicles.
We may share a more positive view on our capital market day due to slight increases in German defense potential up to 2035 and beyond. this is also triggering a sustainable aftermarket business. Overall, it is absolutely clear the intentions and the focus of the German customers are straightforward, absolutely straightforward. Great. Thank you very much, Alexander and Anja. You're welcome. Thank you. The next question comes from Carlos Iransu from Bank of America. The floor is yours. Hi guys. Good morning and thanks for taking my question. I just want to ask on margins from BMS because the margin expansion in Q3 and in the first nine months of the year has been remarkable. Should we assume the same kind of margin expansion in Q4? Thank you. Carlos Iransu, your question. You're always going behind the margins. No, I'm just kidding.
It's a very important question. First of all, we do appreciate that you recognized our improvements on the margin. BMS is, I think, on a very good move. I mean, if you have seen today, it's a 20% for the segment for the nine months. It's driving, and this is, by the way, setting the pace also for the next three to four years because BMS is the largest growing segment, which will, of course, trigger also our margin expectation if we look on our midterm expectations. More to talk about this next week. To talk about Q4, I mean, Q4 is, like for many defense companies, maybe it's the wrong word, but it's the main battle zone because for all the financial KPIs, for all the revenues, I mean, we are also back and loaded. Yeah.
I think RENK managed quite well this year during the first quarters to decouple a little bit and de-risk by increasing the quarterly performance. Q4 will be in the full focus of managing margins and delivering the volumes we are committed to our customers and end users. This will have an impact, I would assume, a positive impact on the margin of VMS. I hope this answered your question. Understood. Thank you. Thanks, Carlos. Thank you. We have one more question. The next question comes from Joe Orchard. The floor is yours. Yes. Good morning. Thank you for taking my questions. Firstly, please, could you talk a little about the commercial response you've had from customers regarding the two new transmissions you unveiled in Q3, the 406 and the O76?
What are the sort of timelines you expect regarding potential orders and revenue generation for these transmissions? My second question is really, please, could you provide an update on possible M&A and the types of businesses you're looking at, potential size and geographies that these targets might operate in? Thank you very much. Yeah. Hi, Joe. Good morning. I will try to answer your both questions. First, about our—I mean, you asked about the customer response and the feedback on our O76 and 406 transmissions. To get a better feeling about how does this and when does this convert into revenues or order intakes, maybe. I mean, first of all, I would start with our low-weight champion, our O76 transmission, which is superb from a weight, lightweight balance and performance.
We have developed this transmission very, very closely with one of our key customers, Patria from Finland. Patria had a launch of the TRAX vehicle, so their first TRAX platform, which is a 15-ton APC platform during the DSI in London. The feedback is superb. Like the feedback for the TRAX is superb. More than currently 14 potential user nations are in negotiations with Patria. We do expect to get the first orders in, I mean, already next year in the beginning or in the middle. It depends on the progress of the negotiations between Patria and the first two lead nations. We do expect to have the first order intakes for this O76 transmission next year.
By the way, the O76 transmission is playing, from our point of view, also here in a kind of closer cooperation with Patria, a crucial role when it comes to digitalization to drive our wire capabilities. As we always say, a kind of midterm ambition to prepare and develop a RENK and maybe a RENK Patria, including maybe ARX UGV, TRAX UGV platform, which is fully autonomous, able for remote-controlled driving. It is in the 10-ton weight class and maybe has a capability for additional 8-10 tons of payload. This is just an outlook. More on this on the capital market day. Regarding the 406, the timeline is very simple. We have one lead customer currently, and the lead customer is requiring that in the middle of 2027, we are providing a couple of this new transmission for the qualification and validation phase of this customer.
The feedback is overall very positive because the 406 is combining, I mean, new benchmarks in regards to classical performance parameters like power density, etc., etc. I think the trick is here, especially the modular design approach. Independent of the overall chassis configuration, platform configuration, and the entire drivetrain design, you can use in the future only one different type of transmissions. If you would have different platforms from customer A, B, and C, usually it was a very specific development for each of these customers. Now in the future, with the 406, you have a one-fits-all transmission for different main battle tanks, which is significantly improving logistics, especially if you are in a kind of conflict theater.
If we assume the delivery of the first prototypes for qualification and validation in the summer of 2027, most likely a ramp-up in order intake is at the end of this decade. This was maybe, I think, a quick or maybe even too long answer now on the product. Talking about M&A, we have, Joe, a very clear set of criteria for M&A, and we have maybe three hands full of companies we are observing. We are maybe in discussion, or maybe we are just in the process to enter into a structured process, which we have allocated according to three different criteria. Do we close or consolidate a market or an existing market gap? Do we expand vertically on our product offerings, or do we need to get better access on technology?
For technology, we do not see currently a need to go into financial involvements or to make any kind of joint venture or M&A. We do feel quite well with our network and still expanding a network of strategic technology partners where we have strategic corporations. If you talk about the market, we have a clear focus. I mean, always in the focus is the US market. It's the largest defense market. General M&A will be only for defense in regards to capital allocation, so not for the civil business. In this regard, US is a key market. We have a good and strong position on the land domain in US. Most likely, we could imagine to progress what we started with the acquisition in this year to acquire Cincinnati Gearing Systems to explore more and deeper the Navy segment in combination.
On the European market, if we stay on this market allocation, I think there might be still some final consolidation opportunities, not on the land side, maybe on the Navy side. I do not know if this answered all your questions. Again, more than happy to discuss it on our capital market day. That's great. Thank you. Thank you very much. You're welcome, Joe. Thank you. No further questions. Okay. Thank you for your time, and have a nice day.