MTU Aero Engines has reported an eight per cent revenue increase in its commercial maintenance operations in the first nine months of 2021 – up to €2.010 million.

After the first six months of 2021, the company had forecast a 15 to 20 per cent rise in revenue from the commercial MRO business.

“As in the previous quarters, the commercial maintenance mix was around 60 per cent MRO for our core business and 40 per cent maintenance on the Geared Turbofan,” said MTU Aero Engines’ CEO Reiner Winkler.

“In the third quarter, some engine programmes had slightly lower MRO content than expected. This affects the figures for the full year. The revenue from the commercial maintenance business is expected to grow in the mid-teen percentage range in 2021.”

Overall revenue at the company was €3,008 million, a two per cent increase compared to the year-before period. Operating profit was €307 million, down one per cent from €311 million the prior-year period, while the adjusted EBIT margin was 10.2 per cent – down 0.3 per cent compared to same period in 2020.

“We managed to deliver stable earnings in persistently volatile market conditions,” said Winkler. “On this basis, we can now give more precise guidance for the full year.”

MTU said it expects full-year revenue to be between €4.3 and €4.4 billion. It predicts the adjusted EBIT margin will be ~10.5 per cent.

In its guidance at the end of July, MTU gave a slightly broader range of €4.3 to €4.5 billion for revenue and predicted an adjusted EBIT margin of between 10 per cent and 10.5 per cent. The company said it expects adjusted net income to develop in line with the operating profit.

In the commercial engine business, revenue declined by 10 per cent from €850 million to €765 million in the first nine months of 2021. “The organic drop in revenue was in the low teens percentage range in the commercial series business and the low single-digit percentage range in the spare parts business,” said Winkler.

The PW1100G-JM for the A320neo was the company’s main revenue driver in the commercial engine business.

The full-year guidance for the commercial series business and the spare parts business remains unchanged. MTU expects both businesses to report organic growth in the low to mid single-digit percentage range in 2021.