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LONDON (Alliance News) - Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC on Friday said it will fall short of its previously guided number of Trent 7000 engines delivered.
Shares in the company were down 4.2% on Friday afternoon at 835.80 pence each, one of the worst performer in the FTSE100 index.
Rolls-Royce had previously aimed to deliver around 550 large Trent 7000 engines in 2018, but it is now to deliver around 500. The Trent 7000 engine is used in the Airbus A330neo passenger aircraft.
However, despite this, the aircraft engine maker has reiterated its guidance for 2018 profit and free cash flow, as given in August at its interim results.
This was for underlying profit between GBP350 million and GBP550 million, and underlying free cash flow of GBP300 million to GBP500 million. In 2017, underlying pretax profit was GBP1.07 billion, up 25%.
Rolls-Royce commented: "Our priority has always been to ensure the Trent 7000 engine meets customer expectations on entry into service and we have seen very good performance attributes during a rigorous testing phase."
"We continue to work very closely with Airbus and our customers on the details of the delivery schedule," it continued.
"While the production ramp up issues in the fourth quarter are regrettable, such issues in the early stages of a new engine program are not uncommon in our industry. As we move into 2019 we are confident that Trent 7000 production and delivery volumes will increase significantly to meet our customer commitments."