Rolls-Royce reports a bigger-than-expected fall in first-half profit

Rolls-Royce disappointed investors by reporting a bigger-than-expected fall in first-half profit on Thursday, underscoring the challenge facing its new chief executive of restoring the health of its civil aviation business.

Shares in Rolls-Royce fell 7.5% after the British company, whose engines power the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787, reported its underlying operating profit fell to 125 million pounds ($152 million) from 307 million pounds a year earlier, missing consensus by 24%.

Its civil aviation business reported an underlying operating loss of 79 million pounds ($96 million) despite a 43% increase in flying hours, a key driver of revenue.

Chief Executive Warren East, who will be succeeded by ex-BP executive Tufan Erginbilgic at the end of the year, pointed to an improvement in free cash flow of 1.1 billion pounds and strong order intake in its power systems business.

He said cash flow was still expected to be “modestly” positive for the whole year, after a cash burn of 68 million pounds in the first half.

That compares to cash burn of 1.5 billion pounds in 2021, and 4.2 billion pounds in 2020 when the pandemic grounded jets worldwide.

East said the company was facing headwinds from higher inflation and supply-chain disruption, such as chip shortages and finding alternative suppliers of titanium. Reuters.com