Armored systems and personal protection appliance manufacturer Rabintex Industries Ltd. (TASE: RABN), controlled by Inspire Investment Ltd. (TASE:INSP), is continuing to reap the benefits of the tender it won last year to produce ballistic helmets for the US Army. The company announced yesterday that its 50% owned US subsidiary won an order worth $18.6 million (NIS 67 million) to supply ballistic helmets to the US Army. The order will be delivered from the fourth quarter of 2007 through the second quarter of 2008.
This is the third in a series of orders that Rabintex has received after winning the US Army tender. The first was a preliminary order worth $1.9 million in August 2006, which amounted to an initial confirmation of Rabintex's win. The second order, worth $4.5 million, followed in February 2007, and with the latest order it now appears that the value of the contract is now assuming the dimensions the company spoke of when it first announced the win.
Rabintex's orders backlog stood at NIS 377 million at the end of the first half of 2007, compared with NIS 100 million at the end of the first half of 2006, so the latest contract will increase the backlog by 17%. Aside from the contract with the US Army, the company also made a number of business moves that should elevate it from the status of just another small defense company to a mid-size manufacturer. One such move was the acquisition by its US subsidiary GuardLink International Inc. of Burtek Inc., a Michigan-based specialist in military vehicle remodeling and modification, for $42 million. This move radically changed Rabintex's business results.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on October 1, 2007
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2007