Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 turbine blade issues contribute to £1.26bn pre-tax loss

Problems with turbine blades in the Trent 1000 engine contributed to a £1.26bn pre-tax loss for Rolls-Royce in the first half of the year.

The aerospace giant faced an exceptional charge of £554m because of “significant” in-service issues, said chief executive Warren East.

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have grounded “brand new” Boeing Dreamliners as a result, the BBC reported. Turbine blades inside Trent 1000s must reportedly be taken off and inspected every 300 hours – a hugely costly and time-consuming process that Rolls-Royce is trying to prevent in future with innovative robotic technology.

Fixing the issue is expected to cost £450m this year and the same amount in 2019, before declining by £100m the year after.

The news follows the June announcement of 4,600 job cuts over the next two years, although East said the company was “streamlining” and targeting unnecessary corporate roles.

Despite following a £1.44bn profit in the first half last year, Rolls-Royce was nonetheless upbeat while announcing the £1.26bn pre-tax loss. Taking reorganisation and engine troubles into account, East said the company was performing well.

“We continued to make good progress in the first half,” he said. “Financial results were ahead of our expectations with strong growth from civil aerospace and power systems and we achieved a number of operational and technological milestones.” 

Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.