TEL AVIV, March 18 (Reuters) - Israel's largest defence

firm Elbit Systems reported stronger quarterly profit,

helped by higher revenue from Israel's military during its war

in Gaza, and expects continued growth in 2025 as global defence

spending spikes.

More than 30% of Elbit's revenue come from Israel, which has

been fighting Palestinian militant group Hamas since October 7,

2023. The company has supplied munitions, drones, guided rocket

systems, reconnaissance capabilities and other systems.

"Israel is no doubt an important market and this market will

continue to grow in the coming years. But the real potential of

the company is from abroad," chief executive Bezalel Machlis

told Reuters on the sidelines of Elbit's investor conference on

Tuesday.

He noted that defence spending will surge in Europe to meet

demands from U.S. President Donald Trump. A 1% of gross domestic

product rise in European defence spending would mean another

$280 billion in available contracts, Machlis said.

Along with higher spending in the U.S. and Israel, and an

order backlog that increased about $5 billion in 2024 to $22.6

billion, "we expect the company to continue to grow bottom line

and top line," he said, declining to give specific numbers.

Some 65% of the backlog is from outside Israel, while 57% of

orders scheduled to be fulfilled during 2025 and 2026.

Luke Savoie, CEO of Elbit's U.S. unit, said Elbit was

aligned with the Trump administration's platforms and expected

to benefit from higher U.S. spending.

Elbit said it earned $2.66 per diluted share

excluding one-time items in the fourth quarter of 2024, up from

$1.56 a year earlier. Analysts had expected $1.95, according to

LSEG data.

Boosted by a 27% rise in aerospace sales, largely of drones

to Israel and European customers, revenue rose to $1.93 billion

from $1.63 billion.

For 2024, Elbit made adjusted profit of $8.76 per diluted

share, versus $6.70 a share in 2023. Revenue rose 14% to $6.83

billion.

Elbit said it would pay a quarterly dividend of 60 cents a

share, up from 50 cents a share in the third quarter.

Its Nasdaq-listed shares were up 5% in pre-market trading.

They are up 43% so far in 2025.

Last week, Ebit's main rival, state-run Israel Aerospace

Industries (IAI) a 55% rise in 2024 profit.