Rolls-Royce H1 profit plunges but sticks to forecasts

LONDON, July 28 (Reuters) - British engineering company Rolls-Royce posted an 80 percent drop in first-half profit - ahead of expectations - and stuck to guidance that its profit performance would recover in the second-half of the year.

Rolls-Royce, in turnaround mode after warning last year that 2016 profit would halve, reported an underlying pretax profit of 104 million pounds for the first six months of the year, beating a consensus forecast for it to be 16 million pounds in the red.

The company said on Thursday its outlook for the full-year was unchanged, driven by a pick-up in large aero-engine deliveries, growth in demand for engine servicing and as it benefits from a cost-cutting programme. Analysts expect profit it to post pretax profit of 669 million pounds in 2016. (Reporting by Sarah Young; editng by Kate Holton)