LONDON, March 20, 2026, 14:12 GMT
Rolls-Royce Holdings shares steadied on Friday, up about 0.1% at 1,191 pence by 1056 GMT, even as London’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.1% and headed for a third straight weekly decline. That left the engine maker looking firmer than the wider market, which is still being pulled around by oil and rate worries. 1
The stock move matters because Rolls-Royce has been one of the FTSE 100’s stronger industrial stories since last month’s results and shareholder return plan helped push the index to a record. Even so, the shares remain around 16% below their 1,420-pence year high, a sign that the burst of optimism after February’s numbers has run into a rougher market backdrop. 2
In a filing on Friday, Rolls-Royce said it bought back 2.47 million shares on March 19 under the 2.3 billion-pound repurchase leg it launched after annual results. The group said it would cancel the shares, and said it has now repurchased 17.57 million shares since the programme began at a weighted average price of 1,265.84 pence. 3
The company also has fresh operational news for investors to chew on. Rolls-Royce said on Tuesday it had secured 64 million euros from the European Union’s Clean Aviation programme to support development and planned 2028 ground tests of the UltraFan 30, a test engine for future single-aisle aircraft. Alan Newby, its director of research and technology, called the award “an important step” toward a future narrowbody application. 4
That sits on top of a much bigger reset unveiled on Feb. 26. Rolls-Royce reported 2025 underlying operating profit — its preferred measure excluding some one-off items — of 3.46 billion pounds and free cash flow of 3.27 billion pounds, then guided to 4.0 billion-4.2 billion pounds of underlying operating profit for 2026. It also laid out a 7 billion-9 billion pound buyback plan for 2026-2028, with 2.5 billion pounds due this year, while Chief Executive Tufan Erginbilgic said the transformation was continuing “with pace and intensity”. 5
That package sent the shares to record highs last month. Reuters reported at the time that Rolls-Royce’s new mid-term margin target would bring it closer to GE Aerospace, its main rival in widebody engines. Interactive Investor analyst Richard Hunter called the numbers “sparkling” and said the group still had “unfulfilled ambitions”. 6
But the easy gains may be behind it for now. Hargreaves Lansdown said some newer Rolls-Royce engines still need more maintenance than customers want, while supply-chain snags and any indirect hit from tariffs could eat into profits if the company slips on execution. The broker also said the stock trades on a premium rating after its big run. 7
The broader market is not helping. On Thursday, Rolls-Royce fell 5.22% to 11.90 pounds as the FTSE 100 dropped 2.35%, underlining how quickly even one of London’s best performers can be dragged lower when investors start pricing in a longer oil shock and higher rates. 8
