Rolls-Royce said Friday that fixing an engine fault that forced a Qantas A380 superjumbo to make an emergency landing would lead to only slightly slower profit growth. ir exhibition. (Oct. 2, 2010)
Enrique Calvo/REUTERS FILE PHOTO
LONDON—Rolls-Royce said fixing an engine fault that forced a Qantas A380 superjumbo to make an emergency landing would lead to only slightly slower profit growth, lifting its shares.
With one analyst saying the cost of the fix seemed to be “relatively modest,” Rolls-Royce's shares ended up 4.6 per cent on Friday, the top gainer on the FTSE 100 index.
“The failure was confined to a specific component in the turbine area of the engine. This caused an oil fire which led to the release of the intermediate pressure turbine disc,” the British engine maker said.
“Our process of inspection will continue and will be supplemented by the replacement of the relevant module according to an agreed program.”
Chief executive John Rose said the engine upgrade would be undertaken with EADS-owned plane maker Airbus, Trent 900 engine customers, and regulators.
“This will enable our customers progressively to bring the whole (A380) fleet back into service,” said Rose. “We regret the disruption we have caused.”
Rolls-Royce shares hit a record high at 661.5 pence on Nov. 1, three days before the engine failure.
The fallout from that incident saw the stock lose up to 14 per cent of its value to a 563 pence low on Monday.
The world's second-largest maker of aircraft engines said underlying profit growth for 2010 would now be slightly lower than a previously guided 4-5 per cent growth because of costs associated with the blowout.
Qantas's six Airbus A380s have been grounded since last Thursday when a Trent 900 engine partly disintegrated mid-flight, forcing a fully laden A380 to make an emergency landing, the biggest incident to date for the world's largest passenger jet.
Reuters News Agency
