Rolls-Royce shares soar amid boom in travel and defence demand

Engineering firm expects big jump in profits after post-Covid revival in airline flying hours

Shares in Rolls-Royce have risen to their highest since the start of the coronavirus pandemic after it surprised investors with a big jump in expected profits on the back of high demand in its jet engine and defence businesses.

The FTSE 100 engineering firm said its civil aerospace and defence units had reported higher sales and cost efficiencies" that improved profitability, in an unscheduled trading update on Wednesday morning.