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| Rolls-Royce back in profit as restructuring continues | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Rolls-Royce swung back into profit in 2017 amid an ongoing restructuring drive at the engine maker. | |
| It comes after the firm posted the biggest loss in its history in 2016 due to settling corruption cases and currency hedges going wrong. | It comes after the firm posted the biggest loss in its history in 2016 due to settling corruption cases and currency hedges going wrong. |
| In the year to 31 December 2017 profit before tax jumped to £4.9bn - up from a loss of £4.6bn the year before. Revenue climbed 9% to £16.3bn. | In the year to 31 December 2017 profit before tax jumped to £4.9bn - up from a loss of £4.6bn the year before. Revenue climbed 9% to £16.3bn. |
| Chief executive Warren East said the firm was making "good progress". | Chief executive Warren East said the firm was making "good progress". |
| Profits were boosted by the delivery of more aero-engines, and by its power systems unit which makes large diesel engines. | |
| It also saw a £2.6bn accounting boost from the recent strengthening of the pound. | |
| Engine troubles | |
| However, the firm said its 2018 figures could be impacted by the cost of carrying out repairs on its Trent 1000 engines, which have suffered technical problems. | |
| In December, Air New Zealand became the latest airliner to ground some of its flights because of problems with the engines. Japan's ANA and Virgin Atlantic have also reported problems. | |
| Mr East told the BBC: "First you have to realise that all mechanical things wear out over time, and some of the parts in our Trent 1000 engines are wearing out faster than we originally forecast. | |
| "We're having to manage the operational impacts because it's quite disruptive for our customers. | |
| "We do know how to fix it. It will take some years actually to fully implement the modifications in all the engines which are in service." | |
| Job losses? | |
| Mr East said Rolls-Royce continued to expand and would power around half of the world's wide body aircraft within a few years - up from a third currently. | |
| To cut costs it will also restructure its business from five business units into three - although Mr East declined to comment on whether this would cost jobs. | |
| The firm employs around 22,000 people in the UK, accounting for one in every 250 jobs in the country. | |
| "It is too early to comment on specific numbers of jobs, but what I have been talking about for some time is we need to simplify our operation," he said. | |
| "Clearly it's a much simpler structure if we are in three units instead of five." |