MTU’s adjusted pre-tax earnings grew nearly 11% to €175 million ($210 million) during the first quarter – on the back of a 4.6% rise in revenue to €1.02 billion.

The German engine specialist says its commercial OEM business saw the highest revenue increase – the segment's turnover grew 10.6%, to €335 million, mainly driven by sub-assembly production for the GE Aviation GEnx and International Aero Engines V2500 programmes.

Revenue in MTU’s commercial maintenance division increased 5%, to €618 million, while adjusted EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) in the segment marginally declined, to €51.5 million.

Adjusted EBIT in the commercial OEM business grew 17%, to €123 million.

Finance chief Peter Kameritsch states that the improved result was “partly the result of our business mix and partly due to our hedging against exchange-rate fluctuations”.

Revenue in MTU’s military engine segment declined 10% to €91.3 million. “[But] over the full year, we expect revenues in the military business to remain stable,” says Kameritsch.

Free cash flow grew 37%, to €83.3 million, while capital expenditure on property, plant and equipment nearly doubled to €34.5 million, from €18.9 million.

Chief executive Reiner Winkler says: “We are well on the way to achieving our year-end targets.”

MTU foresees moderate earnings growth despite a “massive increase in low-yield series production activities”, the Munich-based company says.

In 2017, MTU delivered an adjusted EBIT worth €576 million on revenue of €4.73 billion.

Source: FlightGlobal.com