BRITISH engineering giant Rolls-Royce is facing further delays in solving problems with its Trent 1000 engines which led to aircraft groundings.
Shares in the FTSE 100 firm slumped in early trading after the company warned that a reduction in the number of grounded aircraft to single digits would be set back until the second quarter of 2020.
The company said it accelerated the replacement of immediate pressure turbine blades for some engines, which led to additional engine removals and delayed the firm's progress.
The news is a fresh setback for the Derby-based company which has been dogged by problems with the Trent 1000 engines which first led to the grounding of Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes in 2018.
Issues with the engines helped to drag the company to a loss last year and soured relationships with a number of major airline customers.
The company's chief executive said earlier this year that the number of aircraft affected by the engine problems had declined to between 30 and 40 in the first quarter of 2019.
It was expected that the company would reduce the number of grounded aircraft to single digits by the end of 2019.
Last month, the company said it faced an additional £100 million charge over the next three years to tackle the issues, on top of £1.5 billion of previously earmarked costs.
Rolls-Royce added that its guidance for the cash costs of the in-service issues in 2019 and 2020 is unchanged from what was announced by the firm in April.
Shares in the company were 3.1% down at 785p after early trading on Friday.
The planned merger between online mattress store rivals Eve Sleep and Simba will not go ahead, the companies have said.
Last month the pair confirmed they were in discussions about a potential deal but on Friday Eve revealed bosses "decided that now is not the right time to pursue the potential merger".
The company added that "it is more appropriate to focus on the Eve rebuild plan... overall trading has been more challenging than previously anticipated owing to the uncertain economic outlook and continuing low levels of consumer confidence".
In contrast, Simba suggested it no longer needed a new partner in Eve, revealing the company is now operationally profitable in the UK - something bosses had previously thought would happen sooner with a merger.
Steve Reid, Simba chief executive, said: "Simba has transformed its business in the last nine months, cementing our position as Europe's favourite mattress brand.
"Globally, our partnership with Sleep Country Canada continues to be a success, with a further collaboration confirmed in China through The Beast offline stores. We remain focused on achieving bottom line profitability and business efficiency."
Both companies updated the market on current trading as they announced the end of their courtship.
Eve revealed overall trading has been difficult because of the "economic backdrop combined with heavy discounting and promotional activity", adding sales in 2019 are expected to be between £25 million and £27 million.
The company added that losses are still expected to be reduced due to "optimising overheads and operational costs".
Shares had been suspended following confirmation of the talks with Simba but were readmitted for trading on Friday morning.
At Simba, bosses said they were finally operationally profitable in the UK market, with 4% of the UK mattress market.
Around 750,000 sleep tech products have been sold since the business was launched, and its busiest day to date was the August bank holiday, with sales of £2 million, the company said.
Bosses also completed a £10 million fundraiser.
Both businesses have struggled previously in a tough market. Simba was forced to slash its valuation from £200 million to around £20 million in February to secure new growth funding.
Meanwhile, Eve had seen its share value slide due to an over-expansion in Europe after floating on a £140 million valuation. It is now valued at around £13 million.
In January, chief executive James Sturrock tapped investors for £12 million in funding to refocus on the UK, Ireland and France.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article