AERO engine and power plant manufacturer Rolls-Royce has announced a 4% rise in orders and revenues for the first six months of the financial year.

The Derby firm also saw first half underlying pre-tax profits rise 28% to £595m while underlying earnings per share saw a similar rise to 23.89p.

The group said despite the harsh economic climate it had benefited from the diversity of its businesses, customers and programmes, while the strength of its product line-up, demand for its products and services remained robust, particularly in developing markets.

The first half order book comprised orders of £8.7bn, up 60% on H1 2010, comprising £6.5bn in Civil Aerospace, £0.8bn in Defence Aerospace, £1bn in Marine and £0.4bn in Energy.

John Rishton, chief executive, said: "Since taking over from Sir John Rose in April, I have had the chance to travel extensively, meeting customers and seeing a broad range of Rolls-Royce’s capabilities. It has confirmed my view that this is an outstanding company with a proven strategy and many choices about how and where it can grow in the
future.
 
"Performance in the first half of the year was strong with our order book and underlying profit showing solid growth, enabling an increased payment to shareholders. This demonstrates the resilience of our strategy that is based on a diverse portfolio and access to global markets.
 
"Completion of the acquisition, with Daimler, of the German diesel engines group Tognum will give us further opportunities for profitable growth and add significantly to the breadth and balance of our portfolio.
 
"For the full year, we continue to expect good growth in underlying profit and, excluding the effect of the Tognum investment, a modest cash inflow."