LONDON, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- British engine company Rolls-Royce announced on Thursday that it has decided to withdraw from the current competition to power Boeing's planned mid-size aircraft.
Rolls-Royce said in a statement that "we are unable to commit to the proposed timetable to ensure we have a sufficiently mature product which supports Boeing's ambition for the aircraft and satisfies our own internal requirements for technical maturity at entry into service."
Chris Cholerton, president of civil aerospace for Rolls-Royce, said: "This is the right decision for Rolls-Royce and the best approach for Boeing. "
"Delivering on our promises to customers is vital to us and we do not want to promise to support Boeing's new platform if we do not have every confidence that we can deliver to their schedule," Cholerton added.
Meanwhile, according to the company's 2018 full year report issued on the same day, it made a solid progress despite the challenges of Trent 1000 in-service issues.
Data showed the group's underlying revenue was nearly 15.07 billion pounds (20.04 billion U.S. dollars), up 8 percent from the previous year. Its underlying operating profit increased 253 million pounds to 616 million pounds.
Warren East, Chief Executive of Rolls-Royce, said "solid progress has been made realizing our ambition to make 2018 a breakthrough year, both strategically and financially."
"Underlying financial results are ahead of expectations, with good growth in profit and cash flow," East said.
"Following the restructuring we announced in June last year we are starting to see the crucial behavioral changes needed to sustain our momentum," East added. (1 pound = 1.33 dollar)
