CORONAVIRUS: Rolls-Royce considers raising £2.5bn as the virus continues to wreak havoc

CORONAVIRUS: Rolls-Royce considers raising £2.5bn as the virus continues to wreak havoc
By Iain Fraser - Geopolitical Journalist Malaga, Spain
www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com

Rolls-Royce is rumoured to be considering raising £2.5bn to boost its finances as it does not expect demand to return to pre-pandemic levels for five years.

The firm, which makes the benchmark for Aircraft Engines is apparently "evaluating" raising the sum and is looking at a number of options which could include a rights issue or potentially other forms of equity issuance.

The Financial Times recently reported that Rolls-Royce was considering raising £2.5bn and is in talks with a number of sovereign wealth funds including Singapore's GIC. However, the fact that the UK Government holds a "golden share" in Rolls-Royce which prevents the company, which is deemed to be of strategic interest to the UK - from coming under foreign control so that might put the cosh on any such involvement.

While Rolls-Royce's civil aerospace business has been impacted by the pandemic, it is thought that its defence division remains resilient and in its most recent results, reported a 2% rise in revenues.

However, in August, Rolls-Royce announced a record £5.4bn loss for the first half of its financial year and has already announced 9,000 job cuts as part of a major restructure.