Aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce said Thursday that net profits surged last year, boosted by strong revenues and the sale of its stake in US-based International Aero Engines, and appointed its new chairman. Earnings after taxation soared to £2.281 billion ($3.537 billion, 2.642 billion euros) in 2012, compared with £850 million in 2011, the firm announced in a results statement.
Rolls-Royce, which also makes power systems for use on land and at sea, added that underlying revenues advanced eight percent to £12.2 billion and its order book swelled four percent to £60.146 billion. "In the second half of the year, revenue growth increased as we delivered 23 percent more engines than in the first half. Margins improved, reflecting volume, mix, cost control and the IAE transaction," said chief executive John Rishton.
In the first half, Rolls completed the sale of its 32.5-percent holding in US-based joint venture International Aero Engines AG (IAE) to Pratt & Whitney - a division of United Technologies Corp - for $1.5 billion. IAE makes V2500 engines which power the Airbus A320 family of aircraft and the Boeing MD-90.
The group added Thursday it has appointed Ian Davis as chairman to succeed Sir Simon Robertson. Davis, who was formerly chairman at McKinsey & Company consultants, will start at the job in May. Looking ahead, Rolls-Royce forecast "modest" growth in underlying revenue and "good" growth in underlying profit for 2013. Last year, Rolls has warned that it may be prosecuted over alleged "malpractice" in Indonesia and China after passing on information related to bribery concerns to Britain's Serious Fraud Office. It is fully co-operating with the SFO. "We have significantly strengthened our compliance procedures in recent years, including new policies for global ethics and intermediaries. We have also expanded the compliance function," the company added Thursday.
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