Rolls Royce loses £56m after mid-air engine failure

British manufacturing giant Rolls-Royce today revealed a £56m (€65.85m) hit after the mid-air failure of one of its Trent 900 engines on a Qantas superjumbo.

The Derby-based group said the blow contributed to a 20% fall in underlying profits at its civil aerospace arm last year.

Rolls faced a reputational crisis last November when one of its engines exploded and forced an A380 superjumbo into an emergency landing.

The group said today a “rapid and effective response” from all involved helped it identify the fault and return to normal service within weeks.

It said the bulk of the associated costs had now been taken, although it said further “modest” costs may be seen this year.

The woes did not hold back profits growth in the wider business, with underlying pre-tax profits up 4% to £955m (€1.12bn) in 2010.