"We don't want to rule that out in the future," Chief Executive Stefan Traeger said after the group published annual results.

The Defense & Civil Systems business is Jenoptik's smallest, with 2017 revenues of around 219 million euros ($271.54 million). The unit sells electric motors, heating systems and control units for military and civil vehicles as well as rail and aircraft equipment.

Jenoptik said on Tuesday it had given the Defense & Civil Systems business a new brand to set it apart from the rest of the company. It is also carving out the part of the division that deals with photonics and merging it into its Optics & Life Science segment.

(Reporting by Markus Wacket; Writing by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Eric Auchard)