Rolls-Royce shares soar to all-time high on reinstated dividend, raised profit guidance
A Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engine for the Airbus A330 stands in a workshop of N3 Engine Overhaul Services GmbH. The company is a joint venture between Lufthansa Technik AG and Rolls-Royce for the maintenance of aircraft engines.
Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
Shares of Rolls-Royce jumped more than 11% to hit an all-time high on Thursday after the company reinstated its dividend and raised its profit forecast on the back of strong first-half results.
Shares had pared gains slightly to trade 9.4% higher by 9:20 am London time.
The British aerospace and defense company reported underlying profit of £1.1 billion ($1.4 billion) in the first half of the year, and said it expects that figure to rise to between £2.1 billion and £2.3 billion for 2024.
That’s up from the £1.7 billion to £2.0 billion forecast in its 2023 full-year results and ahead of market expectations. Full-year free cash flow was now projected to pick up to a range between £2.1 billion to £2.2 billion, up from a previous forecast between £1.7 billion and £1.9 billion.
The firm, which supplies aviation giants Boeing and Airbus, also said it would resume dividends for full-year 2024, starting at a 30% pay-out ratio of underlying profit after tax. It comes after pay-outs were suspended in 2020, when flying halted during the pandemic.
CEO Tufan Erginbilgic, who took the helm in 2023 to revitalize the company, said the strong results were a sign that the company’s plans, optimization and cost efficiency programs were taking shape.
“Our transformation of Rolls-Royce into a high-performing, competitive, resilient, and growing business is proceeding with pace and intensity. We are expanding the earnings and cash potential of the business in a challenging supply chain environment, which we are proactively managing,” he said in a statement.
“These results and our increased financial resilience give us the confidence to raise our 2024 guidance and reinstate shareholder distributions in respect of the full year 2024 results,” Erginbilgic added.
Group revenues rose to £8.2 billion in the first half of the year, up from £7 billion in the same period last year. Underlying operating profit was £1.15 billion, up from £673 million in the previous year.
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