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(Sharecast News) - Rolls-Royce announced a new £1.5bn share buyback programme on Thursday and reiterated its confidence in long-term cash generation, citing strong demand across its civil aerospace, defence and power systems businesses.
The engineering giant said it had substantially completed its previously announced £2.5bn buyback for 2026 and would now launch an interim £1.5bn repurchase programme, to be completed before its full-year results in February. The move forms part of Rolls-Royce's broader £7bn to £9bn shareholder returns programme running from 2026 to 2028.
In civil aerospace, Rolls-Royce said demand remained robust across both widebody and business aviation markets, with its large engine order backlog growing to around 2,500 engines. Engine flying hours increased 4% year-on-year in the first 10 months of 2026 to 114% of 2019 levels, with the company maintaining guidance for FY flying hours of 115% to 120% of pre-pandemic levels.
Rolls-Royce's power systems unit continued to deliver standout growth, with order intake surging 62% year-on-year and order backlog reaching a record £8.6bn as demand for power generation equipment was driven by data centres, while defence demand remained strong across both established and emerging programmes, and Rolls-Royce SMR continued to make progress across projects in the UK, Czech Republic and Sweden.
The FTSE 100-listed firm also highlighted its strong balance sheet, with S&P upgrading its credit rating to A- in September, and said it remained confident in delivering sustainable free cash flow growth.
As of 0855 GMT, Rolls-Royce shares were up 2.61% at 1,377.60p.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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