Rolls-Royce Shares Surge As Company Reports Reduced Losses In 2019, Positive Outlook

The shares of Rolls-Royce Holding p.l.c. RYCEY surged in Friday's trade in London as the company gave a positive outlook for the financial year 2020.

What Happened

The veteran aerospace engineering company reported a net operating loss of $1 billion in 2019, down 26.6% than the $1.5 billion operating loss posted in 2018.

The loss per share reduced by 46.8%, from $1.66 last year to $0.89. Rolls-Royce posted net revenue of $21.3 billion, up 5% YoY from $20.3 million.

What's Next

The Derby-based company said it made progress on getting the Trent 1000, used in the Boeing Company's BA 787 aircraft back on track, and the associated cash costs have reduced.

It said that the technical fixes with the troubled engine line are "progressing well." The company's estimate of the cash costs associated with the turbine remains unchanged at $3.1 billion through 2023.

Rolls-Royce also expects the number of aircraft on ground to be reduced to "single-digit" by the the second quarter of 2020.

Rolls-Royce predicted a 15% increase in revenue for 2020 but didn't include any potential impact of the coronavirus outbreak in the guidance.

"The outbreak of COVID-19 represents a macro risk and is likely to have an impact on air traffic growth in the near term; however long term growth trends remain intact," the company said in a statement.

Price Action

The shares closed 3.14% lower at $7.71 in the OTC market on Thursday.