The price of shares in FTSE 100 engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce (LON:RR.) dropped 6.34% to 118.95p (as of 15:10 GMT) after the engine-maker provided a trading update. The company said that restructuring plans were on track but large engine civil aviation flying hours for the year-to-date were still only 42% of 2019.
CEO Warren East commented: “We have taken decisive actions to protect and reposition our business in difficult and uncertain trading conditions, including the impact from a second wave of COVID-19. We have made rapid progress on our restructuring programme and the consolidation and reorganisation of our Civil Aerospace footprint is well underway. Our £5 billion recapitalisation package in November was well supported and has increased our resilience and strengthened our balance sheet. The outlook remains challenging and the pace and timing of the recovery is uncertain. However, our actions have given us a strong foundation to deliver better returns as our end markets improve and we continue to drive our ambition of delivering more sustainable power to support the creation of a net zero carbon economy.“