Rolls-Royce (LON: LON:RR) share price has had a spectacular comeback in the past few years, a move that has made it one of the best-performing FTSE 100 index constituents. It has surged by over 1,250% from its lowest level in 2020.
How Rolls Royce bounced back
Rolls-Royce Holdings, one of the biggest British industrial companies was in trouble before the Covid-19 pandemic started.
Before that, its highly popular engine, Trent 1000, developed cracking issues, which cost it billions of dollars in repairs. The problems pushed it to a big £2.9 billion loss and its stock significantly downwards.
The company’s problems escalated during the pandemic as airlines parked their planes. This was a big blow to Rolls-Royce, which makes most of its money when airlines are flying. In the aftermath, it made a net loss of £5.4 billion in 2020 and over £3.2 billion in 2021.
Rolls-Royce took advantage of the pandemic to sell some of its assets like ITP Aero in a 1.7 billion euro deal. It also laid off thousands of workers and raised capital by selling shares worth about £2 billion. The company also moved to the debt market to raise £3 billion.
All these actions, while painful, helped the company to remain afloat at a time when little revenue was coming in.
The next phase of the turnaround happened in 2023 when the company brought in Tufan Erginbilgiç to become its CEO. Tufan is a former BP (LON:BP) executive who was known for cutting costs.
In 2023, he unveiled a strategy to make the company leaner and more profitable. His strategy products that the operating profit will jump to between £2.5 billion and £2.8 billion by 2027 while the operating margin will move to between 13% and 15%.
As part of this strategy, Rolls-Royce is shedding non-core businesses like its electrical advanced air mobility program. These disposals are expected to to fetch between £1 billion and £1.5 billion. It will also slash between 2,000 and 2,500 workers worldwide and embrace zero-based budgeting.
The company is also working to make its civil aviation business more profitable. Tufan wants to ensure that the company makes a small profit for each engine it makes. In the past, it was common for the firm to sell engines at a loss and recoup the funds from the long-term service contracts.
Rolls-Royce’s recovery has also benefited from other factors. Its engines have been highly reliable, which has saved it money. Further, it has benefited from the ongoing demand of aircrafts and the rising geopolitical issues. In a recent statement, the company said that its backlog increased by 8% to £9.2 billion.
To be clear: Rolls-Royce is not the only thriving industrial names. Other companies like GE Aviation and Safran (EPA:SAF) have also jumped sharply this year.
Rolls-Royce share price forecast
RR chart by TradingView
The weekly chart shows that the RR stock price has been in a strong bull run in the past few years. It has recently crossed the crucial resistance point at 444.5p, its highest point in June 2014.
The stock formed a golden cross pattern in August 2023 while the Average Directional Index (ADX) and the Relative Strength Index (RSI) have continued soaring. Therefore, the outlook for the stock is bullish, with the next point to watch being at 500p.
This article first appeared on Invezz.com
