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Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc 2025 Full Year Results

Strong 2025 results; Upgraded mid-term guidance; Multi-year share buyback announced

  • Significant progress in 2025 driven by our transformation programme, which has also allowed us to capture profitable end market growth
  • Underlying operating profit of £3.5bn with a margin of 17.3%, reflecting the impact of our strategic initiatives and commercial optimisation
  • Free cash flow of £3.3bn driven by strong operating profit and continued LTSA balance growth, supporting a net cash balance of £1.9bn at 31 December 2025
  • 2026 guidance of £4.0bn-£4.2bn underlying operating profit and £3.6bn-£3.8bn free cash flow
  • Upgraded mid-term targets of £4.9bn-£5.2bn underlying operating profit, 18%-20% operating margin, £5.0bn-£5.3bn free cash flow, and 23%-26% return on capital based on a 2028 timeframe
  • Final dividend of 5.0p per share, taking the total dividend for 2025 to 9.5p; a 32% payout ratio of underlying profit after tax
  • £7bn – £9bn multi-year share buyback across 2026-2028 following completion of the £1bn share buyback in 2025

Tufan Erginbilgic, CEO said: “Our transformation continues with pace and intensity. We are consistently achieving outcomes that were not possible before our transformation. With our new capabilities and mindset, we have navigated challenges from supply chain to tariffs, and delivered a strong performance in 2025, all while we built the foundations for significant growth for years to come.

Based on our 2026 guidance, we expect to deliver underlying operating profit within the prior mid-term guidance range two years earlier than planned. Our upgraded mid-term targets include underlying operating profit of £4.9bn-£5.2bn and free cash flow of £5.0bn-£5.3bn. Beyond the mid-term we continue to see significant growth from existing businesses as well as from new business opportunities.

With a strong balance sheet, significant investment to support our long-term growth, and confidence in the future, we are announcing a £7bn-£9bn share buyback for 2026-2028 with £2.5bn to be completed this year.”

Full Year 2025 Group Results

1All underlying income statement commentary is provided on an organic basis unless otherwise stated. A reconciliation of alternative performance measures to their statutory equivalent is provided on pages 52 to 55
2In 2025, the Group recognised a £277m credit to underlying profit after tax (PAT) in respect of deferred tax assets on UK tax losses. This £277m credit has been adjusted in the calculation of earnings per share, the proposed dividend payout ratio, and return on capital. For further details, see note 5, page 33
3Adjusted return on capital is defined on page 55 and is abbreviated to return on capital

Full Year 2025 performance summary

  • Strategic delivery: 2025 has been another year of strong strategic and financial delivery with a significant improvement across all financial metrics. Over the past three years, our transformation programme has delivered a step‑change in performance, with higher operating profit and free cash flow delivered alongside a doubling of capital expenditure, as we continue to transform Rolls-Royce into a high-performing, competitive, resilient, and growing business. Our actions have driven stronger financial performance despite an external environment that remains challenging, including supply chain constraints which we are actively managing.
  • Significant operating profit and margin growth: Underlying operating profit increased to £3.5bn in 2025 compared with £2.5bn in 2024, with an operating margin of 17.3% (2024: 13.8%). Civil Aerospace delivered an underlying operating margin of 20.5% (2024: 16.6%), driven by stronger large engine aftermarket performance, contractual margin improvements and higher spare engine profitability. Defence reported an underlying operating margin of 14.4% (2024: 14.2%), which reflects stronger performance across transport and combat, and the absence of a one-off benefit in submarines in the prior year. Power Systems delivered an operating margin of 17.4% (2024: 13.1%), driven by power generation, where we continue to capture profitable growth in data centres, and governmental. Across the Group, improved profitability was supported by our ongoing efficiency and simplification programme.
  • Sustainable free cash flow growth: Free cash flow of £3.3bn (2024: £2.4bn) was driven by strong operating profit, continued long-term service agreement (LTSA) balance growth, and a strong working capital performance offset by net investments. Civil Aerospace LTSA balance growth net of risk and revenue sharing arrangements (RRSAs) was £0.6bn (2024: £0.7bn), this was supported by 8% growth in large engine flying hours (EFH) and an improved EFH rate, partly offset by a higher number of shop visits and supply chain costs. Working capital was an inflow of £421m (2024: £280m), reflecting the continued benefits of our working capital initiatives. Net investments of £257m (2024: £282m) supported maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) capacity growth in Civil Aerospace and additional capacity in Power Systems.
  • Building resilience: Net cash stood at £1.9bn at 31 December 2025 compared with £475m at the end of 2024, supported by continued strong cash flow delivery. Gross debt reduced to £2.8bn (2024: £3.6bn), as we repaid a $1bn bond in October from available cash, and lease liabilities stood at £1.5bn (2024: £1.6bn). Liquidity remained robust at £8.7bn (2024: £8.1bn), which included cash and cash equivalents of £6.2bn (2024: £5.6bn). Total underlying cash costs as a proportion of underlying gross margin (TCC/GM) further improved to 0.36x (2024: 0.47x), reflecting further cost discipline and operational efficiency. We are building a more resilient company with a less volatile free cash flow.
  • Growing shareholder returns: Reflecting strong strategic and financial progress and in line with our capital framework, we reinstated regular shareholder dividends in 2025 and completed a £1.0bn share buyback programme. This represented the first time that Rolls-Royce has paid a dividend in more than five years and the first buyback for 10 years. The final dividend for 2025 is 5.0p per share, taking the total dividend for 2025 to 9.5p, which represents a 32% payout ratio of underlying profit after tax. The final dividend will be paid subject to shareholder approval at our Annual General Meeting on 30 April 20261. Our strong balance sheet position, alongside our upgraded mid-term targets for operating profit and free cash flow, gives us confidence to announce our first multi-year buyback programme, totalling £7bn-£9bn across 2026 to 2028, of which £2.5bn will be completed in 2026, which includes the £200m that was completed between 2 January and 20 February 2026.

1The dividend will be paid on 3 June 2026 to ordinary shareholders on the register on 24 April 2026. In addition to the cash dividend, shareholders will be offered a dividend reinvestment plan. For further details, see note 7, page 34

Transformation programme and strategic initiatives

Our strategic framework is founded on four strategic pillars. We have made significant progress against each of these pillars over the past three years, including in 2025.

– Portfolio choices & partnerships:

  • ČEZ Group completed strategic investments in Rolls-Royce SMR, alongside a commitment for up to six units in the Czech Republic.
  • We are continuing to expand our MRO capacity, which has supported a more than 50% increase in large engine shop visits over the past three years. In 2025, we added capacity in Derby, Dahlewitz, and Singapore. By the mid-term, we will increase our capacity by an additional 20% across the network to support long-term fleet growth. The Beijing Aero Engine Services Limited (BAESL) joint venture with Air China opened in December and will support up to 250 Trent XWB-84, Trent 1000, and Trent 700 overhauls per annum by the mid 2030s. In partnership with Turkish Technic, we announced the establishment of a state-of-the-art independent maintenance centre in Istanbul, targeted to be operational by the end of 2027, supporting up to 200 shop visits annually for Trent XWB-84, Trent XWB-97, and Trent 7000 engines.
  • The Pearl 700-powered Gulfstream G800 entered service in August. Certification for the Pearl 10X engine, which powers the Dassault Falcon 10X, is underway, with all engine certification tests successfully completed in 2025 and the on-going finalisation of the certification reports for the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is progressing to plan.
  • In Power Systems, testing of our next-generation engines for power generation and governmental applications is progressing to plan. This includes our next generation Series 4000 engine, to be released in 2028, which targets the data centre market with a significantly improved power density, alongside the development of an upgraded military engine.
  • We continue to invest in power generation, significantly increasing capacity in Germany and at our US sites in Aiken and Mankato to support growing demand, driven by data centres.
  • In Defence, testing of the AE 1107 and F130 engines, which will power the MV-75 (Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft) and B-52 aircraft, is progressing to plan. We are supporting the ramp-up of these programmes with significant investments in the US, which totalled around $1bn in Indianapolis alone over the past decade.
  • Rolls-Royce submarines, alongside Assystem, AtkinsRéalis, and Frazer-Nash, formed the Capability Assured Strategic Partnership, which brings together nuclear capability in the UK to support the Royal Navy’s submarines programme and the wider Defence Nuclear Enterprise.
  • In July, we completed the sale of our naval propulsors business to Fairbanks Morse Defense.

– Advantaged businesses & strategic initiatives:

  • In Civil Aerospace, we continued to increase the LTSA margins across our in-production widebody engines through improved commercial terms alongside operational improvements. As a result of our actions, the value of our LTSA contracts has increased significantly since 2022.
  • Our time on wing programme now targets more than a 100% increase in durability across our in-production Trent engines by the end of 2027, with more than half of this improvement now delivered. The increase compared to our previous target of more than 80% is primarily driven by further life extensions for the Trent XWB-84, where we have refined and accelerated our programme to extend critical part lives. The life extension programme for the Trent XWB-84 will be completed in 2026. Building on this, the recently introduced Trent XWB-84EP improves fuel efficiency by over 1% and improves time on wing for new engines. In June, the Trent 1000 XE phase one HPT blade improvement was certified and is being fitted to new and in-service engines. In December, the phase two HPT blade was certified for the Trent 1000 XE and Trent 7000 engines and will begin to be incorporated into new and in-service engines in 2026. Durability upgrades for the Trent XWB-97 made significant progress through material, component, and cyclic engine testing in 2025, with time on wing improvements remaining on track for completion by the end of 2027. We are continually seeking to improve the time on wing of all our engines. For example, we also delivered durability enhancements for the Trent 900 engine which will yield up to a 30% time on wing improvement.
  • In Power Systems, we are capturing profitable growth opportunities in power generation and governmental. In power generation, we announced a new fast-start gas generator product in October that will offer prime power for data centre customers who are awaiting grid connection, and which can later be switched to backup power generation once the data centre is connected to the grid. In governmental, we received a major order in December to supply more than 300 Leopard 2 engines.
  • In Defence, demand for our products remains robust and we secured major orders in 2025. In the first half of the year, we secured key aftermarket contracts worth more than £1.5bn with the UK MoD and US DoW covering EJ200 and AE 2100 engines. In the second half of the year, the Republic of Türkiye and the UK signed an agreement to export 20 British-built Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, with an option for more in the future. In September, on the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), the international consortium announced a major expansion of their partnership to accelerate development of the power and propulsion system for the next-generation fighter aircraft.

– Efficiency & simplification:

  • Our efficiency and simplification programme has delivered £0.6bn of savings since the start of 2022, above our target of £0.5bn by the end of 2025.
  • We delivered £1.2bn of gross third-party procurement savings since the start of 2022, also above our target of £1.0bn by the end of 2025.
  • We are driving further efficiencies to support disciplined growth across the Group, including scaling up our Group Business Services (GBS) capabilities in India and Poland, alongside growing our digital capabilities and the continued implementation of zero-based budgeting.
  • We further improved our best-in-class TCC/GM ratio to 0.36x (2024: 0.47x), evidence of the continued strengthening of our competitive advantage and resilience.

– Lower carbon & digitally enabled businesses:

  • In June, Rolls-Royce SMR was chosen as the sole provider in the Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N) small modular reactors (SMR) competition to build three SMR units in the UK. In November, it was confirmed that the Wylfa site on the coast of Ynys Môn (Anglesey) will host three Rolls-Royce SMRs, with this site capable of taking eight units. In the Czech Republic, work began at the Temelin site. In August, Rolls-Royce SMR advanced to the final stage of the Swedish competition to select a nuclear technology partner, with Vattenfall moving ahead with small nuclear options only.
  • We reached a key milestone with the launch of our AI platform, AiRR, with capabilities in generative and agentic AI. This sits at the core of our efforts to develop and deploy high-value AI capabilities across engineering, MRO, and the supply chain which are expected to reduce turnaround times and product and shop visit costs.
  • In Power Systems, demand for battery energy storage systems (BESS) remains high, with major orders across Europe, including a large order in Lithuania that will provide approximately 600MWh of capacity to the grid. We continue to advance lower carbon propulsion. In October, we conducted the world’s first successful test of a highspeed marine engine running on pure methanol, futureproofing our solutions for the marine sector.
  • Rolls-Royce, together with Xanadu and Riverlane, demonstrated state-of-the-art quantum computing algorithms which can reduce airflow simulation times from weeks to less than an hour. As quantum computing matures, this technology has the potential to reduce prototyping runtimes by up to 1,000-fold in certain applications.

These strategic initiatives are continuing to expand the earnings and cash potential of the business.

Outlook and 2026 guidance

We expect significant further progress in 2026.

2026 financial guidance

Underlying operating profit
£4.0bn-£4.2bn

Free cash flow
£3.6bn-£3.8bn

Our free cash flow guidance for full year 2026 includes a £150m-£200m cash impact related to the supply chain, similar to 2025, with parts availability improving but still constrained. We are actively managing these challenges and are working to mitigate the impacts.

In Civil Aerospace, we expect 2026 large EFH will grow to 115%-120% of 2019 levels, alongside 550-600 total OE deliveries and 1,480-1,550 total shop visits. Our 2026 free cash flow guidance is based on Civil Aerospace net LTSA balance growth broadly similar to the prior year (2025: £0.6bn). Additional details are included in the results presentation and supplementary data slides.

Results meeting and webcast

Our results presentation will be held at UBS, 5 Broadgate, London EC2M 2QS and webcast live at 09:00 (GMT) today. Attendance is by pre-registration only. Downloadable materials will also be available on the Investor Relations section of the Rolls-Royce website: https://www.rolls-royce.com/investors/results-reports-and-presentations/financial-results.aspx

To register for the webcast, including Q&A participation, please visit the following link:
https://app.webinar.net/jQRlpWE3moJ

Please use this same link to access the webcast replay which will be made available shortly after the event concludes. Photographs and broadcast-standard video are available at www.rolls-royce.com.

Enquiries:

Investors:
 

 

Media:
 

Jeremy Bragg
+44 7795 840875
 
Richard Wray
 +44 7810 850055

Ruchi Malaiya
+44 7900 189184
 
 
 

For retail shareholder queries, please contact [email protected].

Individual holders of ordinary shares can contact our Registrar, Equiniti for support with their shareholding. Contact details and FAQs are available on our website, www.rolls-royce.com/investors/investor-contacts.

The person responsible for arranging the release of this announcement on behalf of Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is
Claire-Marie O’Grady, Chief Governance Officer.

This results announcement contains forward-looking statements. Any statements that express forecasts, expectations and projections are not guarantees of future performance and will not be updated. By their nature, these statements involve risk and uncertainty, and a number of factors could cause material differences to the actual results or developments. This report is intended to provide information to shareholders, is not designed to be relied upon by any other party, or for any other purpose and Rolls-Royce Holdings plc and its directors accept no liability to any other person other than under English law.

Download the full press release

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