Rolls-Royce reports strong start to the year

Rolls-Royce has reported a strong start to 2024 thanks to an ongoing transformation strategy.

In a recent trading update published ahead of its AGM, the firm, which has its civil aerospace and defence divisions in Derby, said it saw growth across its sectors.

Rolls-Royce said that in civil aerospace, long-term service agreement large engine flying hours had returned to 100% of 2019 levels, driven by “the continued recovery of international traffic in Asia and our growing fleet”.

In defence, long term growth has been underpinned by a number of contract awards, including the AUKUS submarines contract, which was awarded to its Rayneseway site in Derby.

Chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic said: “We have had a strong start to the year, despite continued industry-wide supply chain challenges.

“This builds on our record performance in 2023 and provides further confidence in our guidance for 2024.

“The focused investments we are making will continue to drive growth and create value for all our stakeholders in the mid-term and beyond.”

The engineering giant said that operating profit and cash growth reflected an “underlying performance improvement driven by the impact of our strategic initiatives” including contractual improvements, cost efficiency actions, and the effective management of ongoing supply chain challenges.

Mr Erginbilgic said: “Our work to transform Rolls-Royce into a high-performing, competitive, resilient and growing business is continuing with pace and intensity as we execute on the granular strategy we set out last November.

“We are driving growth, delivering contractual improvements and improved margins, unlocking efficiencies and creating value across the group.”