By Alex Daniel
Publication Date: 2026-02-26 09:43:00
Rolls-Royce’s profits rose 40% last year as the engineering company’s turnaround gained momentum, helped by booming demand for power from data centers.
The company reported underlying profits of £3.5bn for 2025, up from £2.5bn a year earlier, as it also pledged to return up to £9bn to shareholders through share buybacks over the next three years, the biggest cash return to investors in a decade.
Its chief executive, Tufan Erginbilgiç, a former BP executive, has transformed the engine maker’s fortunes since taking over in January 2023, when he told employees the company was on a “burning platform.”
Since then, profits have soared as he cut costs, renegotiated loss-making contracts and secured better terms and conditions with airline customers.
The strong results released Thursday were driven in part by rising demand for data center power as technology companies compete to build infrastructure to support artificial intelligence. Win at…
