Revenues did though fall from £11.5bn in 2020 to £11.2bn last year, but the company said it had achieved its target to save £1.3bn under a restructuring programme a year ahead of schedule. Under the programme, Rolls-Royce has cut 9,000 jobs, which represented about a fifth of its workforce.
Meanwhile, chief executive Warren East is to step down at the end of this year after a turbulent tenure at the top of one of Britain’s largest aerospace companies. He has been on the board for nine years and at the helm for eight.
He said: "It is a privilege to lead Rolls-Royce - it's a job which I thoroughly enjoy. There have been challenges, but we have built on the cultural and organisational improvements we have made to work through them, deliver on our commitments and create a better business. We have simplified the Group, fundamentally improved our underlying operations and driven long-term change.
"Rolls-Royce is a dramatically different business today: a leading industrial technology company that is not only addressing the energy transition but embracing the opportunity it presents to generate substantial business growth, including through the creation and nurturing of new businesses with very significant potential.
"With the advances we have made, the momentum and energy we have shown and our firmer financial foundations, this is the right moment to look to the future. I am thoroughly committed to leading this business while we work towards a smooth leadership transition.
The passion and skills of our people, the strength of our technologies and the depth of our relationships, give Rolls-Royce tremendous opportunities to pioneer the vital solutions our planet needs to create a net zero carbon future. This is the biggest technological shift for the Group since the arrival of the jet engine."
