Exail Technologies, the French maker of mine-hunting sea drones, reported a net loss of €87 million for the first half of 2026 on 9 October. The business itself grew. Revenue rose 25% to €275 million, and current EBITDA rose 43% to €63 million.
The loss comes from the accounts, not the factories. After Thales agreed in July to buy the company, Exail went back over contracts it signed in 2022, when it bought the navigation firm iXblue. It found it had misjudged what it might owe in cash to the investor ICG and to staff who hold shares. The results were delayed twice while the auditors worked through it.
What the old accounts left out
In 2022 ICG put about €231 million into Exail’s holding company: €81.3 million in bonds and €149.7 million in preference shares. Exail booked no liability for the shares. It had judged that ICG could never realistically demand payment.
A clause in the shareholders’ agreement says otherwise. When the bonds are repaid, at maturity in 2030 or early on a change of control, Exail can buy ICG out. If it does not, ICG can start a sale of the holding company and claim higher dividends. If those go unpaid, it can make Exail buy its shares.
Exail now carries that obligation at €329 million at the end of June, against €296 million at the start of the year. Share plans for former iXblue staff add €126 million. For the end of 2025 Exail had booked €38 million for them, now corrected to €75 million. Exail says these liabilities do not reflect what the holdings are worth in the Thales deal.
The restatement turns the first half of 2025 from a €2.7 million profit into a €164 million loss. Group shareholders’ equity at the end of 2025 falls from €413 million to €169 million. Exail says cash flow, current EBITDA and operating profit are unchanged, and so are the terms of the Thales deal.
The deal and the drones
Thales has agreed to pay €134 a share for the 35.51% held by the family of Raphaël Gorgé, Exail’s chairman and chief executive. It expects that purchase to close by the third quarter of 2027, followed by a mandatory offer for the remaining shares at the same price.
The navigation and maritime robotics division grew revenue 33% to €226 million. Exail credits the ramp-up of its maritime robotics programmes and higher output of navigation systems. Orders fell to €228 million from €612 million, because the first half of 2025 included a mine-countermeasures contract of about €400 million.
Exail says several large mine-countermeasures programmes are under evaluation, with new navies and existing customers. It held €503 million in cash at the end of June and collected a €117 million invoice in October. It reports third-quarter sales on 14 October, and its auditors are still finishing their review of the half-year accounts.
