Rolls-Royce on track to meet FY expectations

Engine maker Rolls-Royce reiterated cost guidance on repairs to its Trent 1000 aircraft engine adding it was on track to meet overall full year expectations.

The Trent 1000 engines had been found with engine blades corroding or cracking prematurely. It took a £554m charge last year on the issue.

Rolls said it was confident of hitting underlying operating profit and free cash flow guidance of £700m, plus or minus £100m.

“Additionally, inspections of Trent 1000 TEN High Pressure Turbine Blades (HPTBs) are progressing and work continues on testing a redesigned HPTB for the Trent 1000 TEN ready for introduction into the fleet in early 2020,” the company said in a statement.

Checks on the Trent 1000 engine are set to increase over the next few months after Singapore Airlines grounded two jumbos fitted with the engines after identifying the issue.

Chief executive Warren East said the company continued to see a healthy market environment, with strong order intake year-to-date at its power systems unit, good flying hour growth in civil aerospace and positive order momentum in defence.

“The in-service performance of the Trent XWB-84 remains strong and it has been encouraging to see recent order wins for our Trent 1000 engine,” he said.