Rolls-Royce releases results

Rolls-Royce has released its preliminary results for 2007 revealing a 76 per cent increase in its order book and a £279m increase in group sales.

Sales rose to a record $45.9bn, with the Asia and Middle East order book more than doubling to £20bn. Meanwhile underlying profit before taxation increased 13 per cent to £800m.

‘We have delivered a strong set of results in challenging conditions,’ said Sir John Rose, chief executive. ‘The breadth of our product and service portfolio, our access to expanding global markets and our focus on productivity and efficiency give us confidence that Rolls-Royce will continue to deliver profitable growth.’

Rolls-Royce stressed the breadth of their order book as sign of a strong strategy, declaring that almost 50 per cent of their orders come from outside their traditional markets of Europe and North America.

The company also restated its commitment to research and development, revealing an involvement in £824m worth of research in 2007, 55 per cent of which was funded directly by the company. The company also announced it expects to continue to spend five per cent of sales on research and development.

Final payments to shareholders in 2007 were 8.96p per share, a 51 per cent increase, and shareholder payments over the year were, in aggregate, 35 per cent higher than 2006.