Rolls-Royce has a long record of disappointing shareholders, so any sign of delayed recovery understandably receives harsh punishment. Missing the market’s revenue and profit expectations for the first half of the year yesterday wiped almost a tenth off the industrial specialist’s market value.
Underlying revenue rose by 8 per cent over the six months, but underlying operating profit fell to £125 million from £307 million in the same period last year. Warren East, the outgoing chief executive, blamed the non-repeat of a foreign exchange-related credit last year, but engine shop visits and engine deliveries were lower than expected in its core civil aerospace business, caused by supply chain constraints and delays in spare engine sales.
The underlying profit margin declined to 2.4 per cent
