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Rolls-Royce to reinstate dividend for first time since pandemic

Published

2 years ago

August 1, 2024

Rolls-Royce to reinstate dividend for first time since pandemic

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Rolls-Royce has raised its profit forecast and plans to pay a dividend for the first time since the pandemic as chief executive Tufan Erginbilgiç’s efforts to restore the UK engineering group’s fortunes pay off.

Shareholders in the FTSE 100 company, whose engines power civil aircraft, submarines and military jets, last received a payout in 2020, shortly before the pandemic.

Announcing its first-half results on Thursday, Rolls-Royce said it would resume payouts at its full-year results. Payments will start at a 30 per cent payout ratio of underlying profit and then shift to a ratio of between 30 per cent and 40 per cent a year.

Shares in Rolls-Royce surged 10 per cent in early trading after the announcement, taking their gains this year to over 60 per cent.

Since taking over as chief executive in early 2023, Erginbilgiç has focused on rebuilding the group’s balance sheet and improving its profitability.

Rolls-Royce is also benefiting from the rebound in international travel as the company makes most of its money maintaining and servicing its engines when they are flying.

Alongside the resumption of the dividend, Rolls-Royce increased its forecast for underlying operating profit this year to between £2.1bn and £2.3bn. It is targeting free cash flow of between £2.1bn and £2.2bn, higher than its previous guidance of £1.7bn to £1.9bn.

The company is “expanding the earnings and cash potential of the business in a challenging supply chain environment, which we are proactively managing”, Erginbilgiç said on Thursday.

Revenues in the first six months of the year rose to £8.1bn, up from £6.9bn a year ago. Underlying operating profit surged to £1.15bn from £673mn.

Despite the strong results, Erginbilgiç warned that the supply chain environment remained difficult. The industry has struggled with a shortage of skilled labour and key components coming out of the pandemic, which has hampered plans by Airbus and Boeing to ramp up production of aircraft.

Erginbilgiç said he expected the supply chain challenges to last for another 18 to 24 months.

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Satellite images provide view inside Iran at war

Published

2 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Satellite images provide view inside Iran at war

Smoke rises over Konarak naval base in southern Iran on Sunday. The base was one of hundreds of targets of U.S. and Israeli forces throughout the country.

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Commercial satellite images are providing a unique look at the extent of damage being done to Iran’s military facilities across the country.

The U.S. and Israeli military campaign opened with a daytime attack that struck Iranian leadership in central Tehran. Smoke was still visible rising from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s compound following the attack that killed the supreme leader.

An image by the company Airbus taken on Saturday shows the aftermath of an Israeli strike on Iran’s Leadership House in central Tehran. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the opening wave of attacks.

Pléiades Neo (c) Airbus DS 2026

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Pléiades Neo (c) Airbus DS 2026

Israel and the U.S. have gone on to strike targets across the country. Reports on social media indicate that there have been numerous military bases and compounds attacked all over Iran, and Iran has responded with attacks throughout the Middle East.

U.S. forces have also been striking at Iran’s navy. In a post on his social media platform, President Trump said that he had been briefed that U.S. forces had sunk nine Iranian naval vessels. U.S. Central Command did not immediately confirm that number but it did say it had struck an Iranian warship in port.

An image captured on February 28 shows a ship burning at Iran's naval base at Konarak.

An image captured on Saturday shows a ship burning at Iran’s naval base at Konarak.

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Numerous satellite images show burning vessels at Konarak naval base in southern Iran. Images also show damage to a nearby airbase where hardened hangers were struck by precision munitions.

Hardened aircraft shelters at Konarak airbase were struck with precision munitions.

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And there was extensive damage at a drone base in the same area. Iran has launched numerous drones and missiles toward Israel and U.S. military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. Many drones have been intercepted but videos on social media show that some have evaded air defenses and caused damage in nearby Gulf countries. In Dubai, debris from an Iranian drone damaged the iconic Burj Al Arab, according to a statement from Dubai’s government.

Buildings at an Iranian drone base at Konarak were destroyed in the strikes.

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Iran’s most powerful weapons are its long-range missiles. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards have hidden the missiles deep inside mountain tunnels. Images taken Sunday in the mountains of northern Iran indicate that some of those tunnels were hit in a wave of strikes.

Following Khamenei’s death, Iran declared 40 days of mourning. Satellite images showed mourners gathering in Tehran’s Enghelab square on Sunday.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told NPR on Sunday that Iran will continue to fight “foreign aggression, foreign domination.”

A White House official told NPR that Trump plans to talk to Iran’s interim leadership “eventually,” but that for now, U.S. operations continue in the region “unabated.”

A large crowd of mourners fill Enghelab Square in Tehran on Sunday, following the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike.

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Video: What the Texas Primary Battle Means for the Midterms

Published

11 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Video: What the Texas Primary Battle Means for the Midterms

new video loaded: What the Texas Primary Battle Means for the Midterms

The first battle of the midterm elections will be the U.S. Senate primary in Texas. Our Texas bureau chief, David Goodman, explains why Democrats and Republicans across the U.S. are watching closely to see what happens in the state.

By J. David Goodman, Alexandra Ostasiewicz, June Kim and Luke Piotrowski

March 1, 2026

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Mass shooting at Austin, Texas bar leaves at least 3 dead, 14 wounded, authorities say

Published

14 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Mass shooting at Austin, Texas bar leaves at least 3 dead, 14 wounded, authorities say

Gunfire rang out at a bar in Austin, Texas, early Sunday and at least three people were killed, the city’s police chief said.

Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis told reporters the shooter was killed by officers at the scene.

Fourteen others were hospitalized and three were in critical condition, Austin-Travis County EMS Chief Robert Luckritz said.

“We received a call at 1:39 a.m. and within 57 seconds, the first paramedics and officers were on scene actively treating the patients,” Luckritz said.

There was no initial word on the shooter’s identity or motive.

An Austin police officer guards the scene on West 6th Street at West Avenue after a shooting on Sunday, March 1, 2026, in Austin, Texas.

Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP

Davis noted how fortunate it was that there was a heavy police presence in Austin’s entertainment district at the time, enabling officers to respond quickly as bars were closing.

“Officers immediately transitioned … and were faced with the individual with a gun,” Davis said. “Three of our officers returned fire, killing the suspect.”

She called the shooting a “tragic, tragic” incident.