Emergency generators, engines for yachts and tanks: the portfolio of Rolls-Royce Power Systems on Lake Constance is broad. Demand in the civil sector in particular was high last year. Orders for tank engines are still a long way off.
Friedrichshafen (dpa/lsw) – A boom in demand for emergency power generators ensured decent growth for the drive system and large engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce Power Systems last year. Sales adjusted for special effects rose by 23 percent compared to the previous year to around 3.3 billion British pounds (3.9 billion euros), as the company with its British parent company and headquarters in Friedrichshafen announced on Friday. Adjusted profit climbed from £242m to £281m in 2022.
The tank engine business only grew from nine to ten percent. Power Systems produces the engines for well-known models such as the Leopard 2 or the Puma at Lake Constance. Large orders from the federal government have not yet been received. Labor director Thelse Godewerth wanted concrete commitments from Berlin. They are urgently needed for planning security, she said.
The company has already invested in order to be able to expand production if necessary. For this purpose, 40 positions were created and filled last year. A double-digit million amount was invested in the procurement of materials. “In order to be able to deliver as quickly as possible, we need concrete commitments and orders from politicians,” stressed Godewerth.
In addition to tank engines, Rolls-Royce Power Systems also sells high-speed propulsion systems for ships and heavy land and rail vehicles under the MTU brand. Power plants are also part of the portfolio. Hospitals, data centers and airports, for example, use diesel generators to protect themselves against possible power failures. According to the spokesman, the big run on the emergency generators had already begun before the Ukraine war. The demand for yacht engines has also increased significantly.
“Our business is booming. This makes us a major growth engine for our group,” said CEO Jörg Stratmann, referring to the British engine manufacturer and parent company Rolls-Royce, which no longer has anything to do with luxury cars. With growth of 34 percent, the order situation is better than ever. The order books are already 76 percent full. The volume reached a record with 4.3 billion pounds (equivalent to 5.2 billion euros).
“We’re good, but we can do even better,” Stratmann continued, referring to the group-wide transformation announced in London. The new head of the parent company, Tufan Erginbilgic, had announced a comprehensive review of all processes and costs. The goal is more efficiency, he said on Thursday. Power Systems employs around 9,500 people, most of them at Lake Constance.
