JERUSALEM: Israel's largest defence firm Elbit Systems reported sharply higher third-quarter profit on Tuesday, fuelled by sales to Israel's military during its war against Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza and by higher global defence spending.

Elbit said it earned US$3.35 per diluted share excluding one-time items in the July to September quarter, up from US$2.21 a year earlier.

Revenue rose to US$1.92 billion from US$1.72 billion.

"These results reflect the significant contracts the company has secured across Europe and from customers worldwide, who continue to choose Elbit Systems' advanced systems amid the ongoing global conflicts and increasing defence budgets," said CEO Bezhalel Machlis.

The results were boosted by a 14 per cent increase in revenue from its command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence and cyber systems.

More than 33 per cent of Elbit's revenue came from Israel, where the country fought Hamas from Oct 7, 2023 until a ceasefire deal last month. The company supplied munitions, drones, guided rocket systems, reconnaissance capabilities and other systems.

Sales to Europe, which is in the process of boosting defence spending, rose to US$536 million from US$430 million a year earlier, comprising 28 per cent of revenue.

On the heels of more European contracts, Elbit's backlog of orders reached US$25.2 billion. Some 69 per cent of the backlog is from outside Israel, while 38 per cent of the orders are scheduled to be fulfilled during the rest of 2025 and in 2026.

Elbit said it would pay a quarterly dividend of 75 cents a share. --REUTERS