Rolls-Royce’s adjusted pretax profit was still 76 percent lower than the 439 million pounds recorded a year earlier, while underlying sales fell 5 percent to 6.14 billion pounds.
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The London-based company posted a 1.8 billion pound ($2.37 billion) net loss following the revaluation of USA currency hedges.
Dominating the risers and underpinning the index was Rolls-Royce, up 18 per cent to 868p, after the aero-engineer reported better-than-expected first-half profits of £104 million and said it expected profits to improve in the second half.
Rolls-Royce, which makes engines for Boeing Co. and Airbus Group SE’s long-range jetliners said underlying profit was GBP77 million as sales retreated 1% to GBP6.5 billion.
On the currency markets, the pound fell 0.1% against the dollar to $1.3208 and dropped 0.5% against the euro to €1.1898.
He added that the engine maker’s 2016 outlook was unchanged.
The aerospace and engineering group’s outlook provided more evidence that its performance is starting to stabilise after a string of profit downgrades past year. The company has suffered lower demand for some of its most profitable products and struggled with the impact on demand from low crude prices on its marine and power-systems operations.
Warren East, the chief executive, said the order intake had been good.
Job cuts are continuing as part of a cull of up to 25 percent of the company’s 2,000 management positions, with 270 posts having been cut so far out of an expected total of around 400, East said in a telephone briefing. Savings generated this year should come in at the top-end of the GBP30 million to GBP50 million projection, he said. Although while it said in a statement the Brexit vote will have “no immediate impact on our day-to-day business”, it also said that the “medium and long-term effect will depend upon the relationships that are established between the United Kingdom, the European Union and the rest of the world over the coming years”. The company still targets up to GBP200 million in savings at the end of next year.
East also said Rolls-Royce was reducing the time taken to build its engines across different programmes.
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Mr. East said the Brexit vote shouldn’t have a major impact on the company.
