Rolls-Royce half-year profits rise fivefold

Move by new CEO to hike prices for servicing jet engines pays off with £673m profit and surge in share price

Rolls-Royce increased its profits fivefold in the first half of this year after its new chief executive, Tufan Erginbilgic, raised prices for servicing jet engines.

The FTSE 100 engineering company made an underlying operating profit of £673m between January and June, up from £125m in the same period last year, it said in a statement to the stock market on Thursday.