Rolls-Royce profits almost halved during 2000 mainly because of a special provision of £120 million set aside for further development of the Trent engine. The industrial version is intended to power small to medium generation units which the company predicts will allow it to cash in on the global boom in power generation equipment.
Despite losses during the year in its energy division RR remains confident of expanding sales: it estimates the market for its energy products to be £115 billion during the next 10 years.
