Overview
- Rolls‑Royce reported underlying operating profit of £2.5 billion and revenue of £11.3 billion for the first half, figures the company disclosed on Thursday that beat expectations and showed a 46% rise in underlying profit year on year.
- Management lifted full‑year underlying operating profit guidance to £4.7–£4.9 billion and raised free cash flow expectations, citing H1 outperformance as the reason for the upgrade.
- The company said defence order intake reached £2.4 billion and it now carries a defence backlog of £17.5 billion, giving multi‑year revenue visibility for its defence business.
- Rolls‑Royce’s data‑centre power orders grew by more than 50% in H1 as operators sought on‑site backup and resilience, and civil aerospace also improved, which management credited for the stronger group performance.
- The board announced a 6p interim dividend and confirmed it has completed £1.4 billion of a planned £2.5 billion buyback, while statutory profit was weaker due to disposals and foreign‑exchange effects reported alongside the underlying results.