Rheinmetall shares surge after armsmaker reports record profit

German weapons manufacturer Rheinmetall on Wednesday reported record second-quarter core profit, beating analyst expectations, sending shares in the firm up almost nine percent.

Core profit for the three months to June came in at 562 million euros ($639.5 million), Rheinmetall said, roughly double the amount this time last year and about 20 percent above analyst expectations in a poll by Vara Research.

Revenue at 3.3 billion euros was up almost 70 precent, Rheinmetall said, with growth broad-based across the company.

"All segments contributed to this year-on-year improvement," the tank gun maker said. "Operating metrics have thus been significantly exceeded."

Rheinmetall shares have soared 13-fold since before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 as defence spending has surged across Europe.

Germany's defence budget is planned to rise 33 percent by next year to almost 110 billion euros as Berlin rearms to face the threat from Moscow and compensate for wavering American commitment to European security.