A 22% year-over-year rise in commercial maintenance revenues has boosted MTU Aero Engines during the first quarter of 2023.
In results published in July, the Germany-based engine specialist’s MTU Maintenance business saw revenues increase from €1.7 billion (1.8 billion) to €2.1 billion in the first half of 2023.
According to MTU, the main revenue drivers for its maintenance business in this period were the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G-JM and the IAE V2500 engine programs for the Airbus A320 aircraft family variants.
“This reflects the further ramp-up of [geared turbofan] MRO activities at MTU Maintenance Zhuhai in China and EME Aero in Poland,” says MTU’s chief financial officer, Peter Kameritsch. “Impetus also came from maintenance for engines for long-haul and cargo aircraft, industrial gas turbines and our leasing business.”
MTU acknowledged Pratt & Whitney’s recently announced revised inspection program for the GTF program, related to contaminated powered metal used to manufacture some high-pressure turbine disks. The new inspections will begin in September and initially concern 200 engines.
“Together with our partners, we will be doing our utmost to manage this situation efficiently and to limit the impact on our customers as far as possible,” says Lars Wagner, CEO of MTU Aero Engines. “I also want to stress that this is not an engine design problem. It does not affect the production of new engines and spare parts.”
The highest revenue growth came from MTU’s commercial engine business, which saw revenue increase 40% to €832 million. A strong performer in this segment was its spare parts business. “Our spare parts business expanded across all platforms—particularly widebody engines and industrial turbines,” Kameritsch says.
Overall, MTU Aero Engines generated revenues of €3.1 billion in the first half of this year, a 25% rise from €2.5 billion in the same period in 2022. Operating profit increased by 40% from €290 million to €405 million. The adjusted earnings before interest and taxes margin was 13.1%, compared to 11.7% in the same period last year.
The company’s revenue target for the full year stands between €6.1-6.3 billion.