Rolls-Royce lands contracts worth £1.4bn

Rolls-Royce has announced two new contracts worth $2.2 billion (£1.4bn) two weeks after issuing the latest in a series of profit warnings.

A worker scrubs the turbine of Rolls-Royce jet engine. Picture: Getty Images

The deals relate to Trent 700 engines for 20 Airbus A330 regional aircraft operated by Saudia, Saudi Arabia’s national airline.

Leasing company International Air Finance Corporation, which owns the planes, is buying the engines for $930 million.

Rolls has also signed a long-term servicing contract worth $1.3bn with Saudia. It said the Trent 700 was now the market leader on the A330 with more than 60 per cent of new orders in the past three years.

Eric Schulz, president for civil large engines, said: “We welcome our customer’s confidence in the Trent 700 as the best solution for fuel burn, emissions and noise performance as well as delivering unrivalled reliability for Middle East operations.”

On 6 July Rolls-Royce issued its latest profits warning. Analysts at Killik said the latest news would “provide some comfort to investors”.