Rolls-Royce has got to grips with a long-running engine problem and enjoyed a strong end to 2019, leaving it well placed to cope with any disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak, it said on Friday.
Ciara Lee reports
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Defying the sea of red seen among other blue chip companies on Friday (February 28), Rolls-Royce shares jumped 6.6 percent after the British engine maker said it's got to grips with a long running engine problem.
It's been battling to improve the durability of its Trent 1000 engine, which powers Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.
Airlines have had to ground the aircraft for repairs.
But Rolls-Royce Chief Executive Warren East says the roll-out of fixes is progressing.
The company reported over a $1 billion operating loss for 2019, largely due to a charge for the Trent 1000.
But excluding the charge, core underlying profit rose 25% to over a million dollars.
Rolls, which also has defence and power systems businesses, said the coronavirus outbreak was likely to hit air traffic growth.
But that the situation was "an unknown", and it's currently unable to quantify any impact.
It added that its supply chain had not been disrupted by the virus, including from China, the source of the outbreak.
That as British Airways owner IAG and Finnair said on Friday the virus would hurt their profits.