Rolls-Royce flying as travel and defence spending soars

ROLLS-Royce raced ahead of market expectations on full-year profit off the back of booming travel demand and increased defence spending.

- By Guy Taylor

It reported an underlying profit of £2.5billion, well ahead of the £2.1bn to £2.3bn forecast.

Revenue of £17.8bn also beat analysts' consensus of around £17.3bn.

Rolls-Royce reinstated dividends for the first time since the pandemic and unveiled a £1bn share buyback.

Chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic, who engineered the remarkable turnaround in his first two years, said: "We are moving with pace and intensity." Yesterday the FTSE 100 engineering giant proposed a 6p per share dividend for investors.