Engine-maker Rolls-Royce has posted soaring profits amid the bounce-back of air travel across the globe.
The return of international flying and Russia’s war on Ukraine meant aerospace and defence added to a robust half-year set of figures.
The company banked 240 large engine orders in the six-month period, up from 96 the previous year.
Its civil aerospace division delivered operating profits of £405 million compared with a loss of £79m a year ago.
READ MORE: Rolls-Royce in Scottish jobs pledge as flight demand improves
It is also good news for around 600 aerospace workers at Inchinnan in Renfrewshire, who produce turbine blades and aerofoils, and who were among those facing cuts when the company eventually shed 9,000 workers across its operations in recent years.
"Rolls-Royce appears to be emerging from the clouds," said Andy Chambers, director at Edison Group, "with a very strong set of half-year results that saw underlying revenues growing 31% to £6.9bn with underlying operating profit more than five times higher at £673m.
"With the initial results of the transformation programme enhancing performance all three divisions made positive contributions."
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He said the "healthy profit" and strong order intake reflected the recovery in the large aeroengine market and strong growth in business aviation.
Defence also grew strongly with underlying operating profit up 33% "reflecting improving demand and a more favourable delivery profile".
The company has seen a marked improvement in flying hours by engines from its civil aerospace operation, up 36% in the first half and reaching 83% of 2019 levels.
The profit cheer sent the company's shares surging higher on the day, to levels not seen since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
READ MORE: Rolls-Royce returns to profit
Tufan Erginbilgic, Rolls-Royce chief executive, kicked off another transformation programme at the start of the year, shaking up senior management among other changes.
He said the plan had "started well with progress already evident in our strong initial results and increased full-year guidance for 2023".
However, he said there is "more to do" under the programme and it has also been undertaking a strategic review with aims to reveal the findings later this year.
He said: "There is much more to do to deliver better performance and to transform Rolls-Royce into a high-performing, competitive, resilient, and growing business.
"We will share the outcome of our strategy review along with medium-term goals for the group in November."
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