Rolls-Royce deepens white-collar job cuts as shares soar on 25% profit jump

Though the number of job cuts is not known, focus will be on white-collar staff rather than engineers and technicians

Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc surged the most in 20 months after the aero-engine maker ended years of earnings declines and Chief Executive Officer Warren East said he’d double down on management job cuts.

The shares jumped as London-based Rolls-Royce announced a 25 per cent increase in annual profit Wednesday, beating estimates, and East revealed that he’d hired New York turnaround firm Alvarez & Marsal to help develop a “considerably simplified staff structure.”

East has already eliminated around 600 senior managers, as well as thousands of workers at Rolls’s main aerospace business and in its marine arm, which may be sold. While