Rolls-Royce hits high from civil aerospace shift

Rolls-Royce today said shifting its focus away from civil aerospace helped pre-tax profit for the year soar to a record, up 4% to £915 million.

Chief executive Sir John Rose said the aircraft engines maker finished the year with more deals in its order book than ever before, totalling £58.3 billion after it expanded into new defence, marine and energy businesses and targeted demand in the east.

He said: "We were able to grow despite the global downturn by pushing into new markets. Last year for the first time our non-civil aviation business provides more than 50% of revenue.

"We've also seen much higher demand in Asia and the Middle East."

Rolls-Royce picked up higher earnings from maintenance contracts, as well as making engines for defence aircraft like the Hercules.

Rose said its engines were also used for humanitarian aid efforts: "That demonstrates how we've diversified the business so we're less reliant on spending from one source.

"As a result, we're not too worried about the upcoming election. Whoever wins, we're expecting a defence spending review, but more than three quarters of our defence revenue comes from the rest of the world, so we're less exposed than other firms."

It hiked the final dividend by 5% to 9p.