Aerospace giant Rolls-Royce logs £5.4bn H1 loss on virus

LONDON: British aerospace giant Rolls-Royce on Thursday logged a vast net loss for the first half of 2020 as the coronavirus outbreak grounded aircraft worldwide and sparked a crisis in air transport.

Rolls, which operates in the air, defence and energy sectors, posted a net loss of £5.4 billion ($7.1 billion, 6.0 billion euros) in the six months to June.

It also unveiled a £2.0-billion asset disposal programme as part of its ongoing overhaul.

The dire first-half performance compared with a year-earlier loss of £909 million, it added in a results statement.

The company, whose products power Airbus and Boeing aircraft, has also ramped up its cash holdings to help navigate the damaging fallout from the ongoing global health emergency.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly affected our 2020 performance, with an unprecedented impact on the civil aviation sector with flights grounded across the world,” Chief Executive Warren East said in the earnings release.

“We have responded rapidly to increase our liquidity, with £6.1 billion at the end of H1 and a further £2.0-billion term loan agreed in H2, to help weather the continued uncertainty around the timing and shape of the recovery in the civil aviation sector.