Rolls is rocked as engine trouble grounds planes

SHARES in Rolls-Royce have hit more turbulence after Singapore Airlines grounded two jets because of engine trouble.

The airline removed the two Boeing 787-10 planes, which have Rolls’ Trent 1000 TEN engines, from service until new ones are fitted because checks showed that the blades were deteriorating too quickly.

FTSE 100 aerospace giant Rolls had already warned airlines that the engines have a shorter-thanexpected shelf life – and its engineers are scrambling to develop and test a new, improved version.

It is the latest bump in the road for the Trent 1000 turbines.

As of late February, Rolls said 35 Boeing 787s had been grounded across the world due to the blades cracking or corroding.

And it also said in February that it expects to take a £790m charge for the problematic engines.

Shares shed 1.1pc, or 10.2p, to close at 907p.

The FTSE 100 as a whole was on the rise, as a weakening in the

pound pushed up shares in London-listed exporters.

It added 1pc, or 73.74 points, to close up at 7391.12.

As blue- chip exporters make most of their revenues outside the UK, a decline in sterling strengthens their income in other currencies.

British American Tobacco stock rose 1.4pc, or 43.5p, to 3178.5p. Smirnoff and Gordon’s Gin maker

Diageo saw its shares edge 1.2pc higher, up 37.5p to 3141p. And Ben and Jerry’s maker Unilever saw its shares rise 0.9pc, or 38p, to 4393p.

On the second-tier FTSE 250 index, housebuilder Galliford Try unveiled a partnership deal with Homes England to build more than 850 houses in Redcar, Cheshire, Staffordshire and Dorset.

The first properties will be completed by next spring. Galliford did not disclose the size of the deal. On Monday it announced it had won £ 35m of work on two water industry contracts – and its share price climbed 1.6pc, or 10.5p, to 670p yesterday.

Wizz Air shares gained traction after it said profits for the year to March will be in the upper half of its guidance, which stands at £232m to £257m. An increase in passengers wanting to fly on its central and eastern European routes helped in 2018.

It was a change in tone after Easyjet on Monday warned that Brexit uncertainty was hurting its business. Wizz rose 4.8pc, or 137p, to 3017p.

Polling expert Yougov suffered on the stock market despite reporting strong first-half revenue and profit growth due to US demand and increased take-up of its custom research services.

Profits rose 28pc to £13.7m, while revenue rose 18pc to £ 66.5m, though it said business has been hurt by ongoing political uncertainty in the UK and Europe.

The company unveiled a fiveyear plan that will make more data publicly available and aims to double revenue. But the market wasn’t quite sold on its ambitions, with shares losing 3.1pc, or 15p, to close at 426.5p. The City was keen on Hostelworld Group, however, even though last year’s bumper UK heatwave and the timing of the football World Cup almost halved its profit to £5.7m.

Revenue at the hostel booking site fell 5.3pc, and it cut its final dividend by a quarter to nine euro cents per share.

But there was a glimmer of light due to a 4pc rise in bookings made through its main Hostelworld brand. Shares climbed by 2.4pc, or 4.4p, to 187p.

Fever-Tree shares fizzed after Merrill Lynch launched coverage of the stock market darling with a ‘ buy’ rating and 4290p target price. The tonic maker’s share price rose 0.7pc, or 20p, to 3030p.