Rolls-Royce reports jump in first-half profit led by civil aerospace

LONDON (Reuters) – Aero-engineer Rolls-Royce (OTC:) reported underlying operating profit of 673 million pounds ($855 million) in its first half, more than five times the level of a year ago, led by a large improvement in its civil aerospace margin.

The British company upgraded its full-year profit forecast late last month to 1.2-1.4 billion pounds ($1.6-1.8 billion) from its previous guidance of 800 million-1 billion pounds. The market had been forecasting 934 million pounds.

($1 = 0.7871 pounds)