Rolls-Royce boss Warren East wasn’t exaggerating when he said 2020 had been a ‘historic shock’ for the aviation industry.
Rolls, long the most prestigious name in British engineering, has been hammered by the wipeout in global travel caused by the pandemic as a huge bulk of its revenues depend on the number of hours planes have flown.
When it posted a £5.4billion first-half loss in July, buried deep in the release it also said there was a ‘severe but plausible’ worst-case scenario that could ‘cast significant doubt’ on its survival.
Since then, vaccine announcements and recovery hopes have sent its shares 250 per cent higher in the last two months, it has tapped shareholders for £2billion in a move that unlocked a total funding package of £5billion, on top of ploughing ahead with a mammoth restructuring.
All eyes will be on Rolls next Friday when it releases a full-year trading update.
Investors will be eager to hear whether Rolls did indeed burn through £1billion in the latter six months of the year.
They will want to know if analysts’ forecast it will rack up a £2.9billion annual loss are broadly correct and how far it has got in its plan to cut 9,000 jobs.
Beyond its aerospace arm, news would be welcomed about any further progress with a group programme it is leading to design and build mini nuclear reactors.
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