Rolls-Royce has raised its profit guidance after a “strong start to the year” which saw its revenue surge by almost £1bn.
The FTSE 100 giant has reported an underlying pre-tax profit of £1.68bn for the first six months of its financial year, up from the £1.03bn it posted for the same period in 2024.
New figures filed with the London Stock Exchange by the Derby-headquartered company also show its underlying operating profit grew by 50 per cent from £1.14bn to £1.73bn in the first six months of the year.
On a statutory basis, Rolls-Royce’s revenue grew from £8.86bn to £9.49bn, its operating profit went from £1.64bn to £2.07bn and its pre-tax profit from £1.41bn to £4.84bn. Underlying revenue rose from £8.18bn to £9.05bn during the period.
As a result of its boosted finances, the business said it was raising its guidance for 2025 and that it now expects to deliver an underlying operating profit of between £3.1bn-£3.2bn and free cash flow of between £3bn-£3.1bn.
Rolls-Royce shakes off supply chain and tariffs challenges
Rolls-Royce CEO Tufan Erginbilgic said: “Our multi-year transformation continues to deliver.
“Our actions led to strong first half year results, despite the challenges of the supply chain and tariffs.
“We are continuing to expand the earnings and cash potential of Rolls-Royce.
“We delivered continued strong operational and strategic progress in the first half of 2025.
“In civil aerospace, we achieved significant time on wing milestones and delivered improved aftermarket profitability.
“In power systems, where we now see further growth potential, we continued to capture profitable growth across data centres and governmental.”
‘Strong financial performance was achieved despite an uncertain external environment’
Rolls-Royce added: “The first half of 2025 has been another period of strong strategic delivery, with significant year on year improvement across all key financial metrics.
“Driving this improvement were our strategic initiatives, including commercial optimisation and cost efficiency benefits.
“Strong financial performance was achieved despite an uncertain external environment, including continued supply chain challenges and tariffs.
“We expect to fully offset the impact of the announced tariffs through the mitigating actions we are taking.
“We are closely monitoring the potential indirect impact on economic growth, foreign exchange rates, and inflation and we will continue to take the necessary actions.
“We have seen some improvement in the supply chain, notably the availability of finished parts, helped by our actions, although we continue to see inflationary pressure in product costs.”
FTSE 100 shares surge while dividends return
The results come after Rolls-Royce’s shares passed the £10 mark for the first time in its history earlier in July.
The latest milestone meant that Rolls-Royce’s share price had doubled from where it was in September 2024.
Rolls-Royce has enjoyed an almost unprecedented run of success on the London Stock Exchange since the low of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Even a sharp fall in the aftermath of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs announcements in April failed to stop the company’s share price resuming its consistent rise.
Rolls-Royce has reported its half-year results. Credit – Getty.
In June, a division of Rolls-Royce was selected to be the UK’s provider of small modular reactor (SMR) technology.
Rolls-Royce SMR, which is co-owned by the FTSE 100 giant and Czech power company CEZ, was successful in the Great British Nuclear (GBN) competition following a two-year process.
The division will now build three units in the UK in a move which the firm said would “generate employment, boost the supply chain and generate economic growth, including through the capture of significant export opportunities”.
Rolls-Royce’s CEO said this morning that he expects the SMR arm to be profitable and free cash flow positive by 2030.
In February, Rolls-Royce reinstated dividends and unveiled a £1bn share buyback programme as its full-year profit comfortably beat expectations.
The business proposed a 6p per share dividend for investors in what marked its first payout since before the pandemic.
It added that a £1bn share buyback programme would also start and be completed through 2025
Rolls-Royce’s full-year underlying profit reached £2.5bn in the year, well ahead of a prior forecast of between £2.1bn and £2.3bn.
Its revenue of £17.8bn also beat analysts’ consensus of around £17.3bn.