Rolls-Royce says on track for full-year

LONDON, July 31 (Reuters) - Engine maker Rolls-Royce said it was on track to meet forecasts for the year, as it reported an expected 20 percent drop in first-half profit due to shrinking government defence spending and currency headwinds.

Rolls, the world's second-largest maker of aircraft engines behind U.S. group General Electric, on Thursday posted pretax profit of 644 million pounds ($1.09 billion) in the six months to the end of June, compared to a consensus forecast of 607 million pounds.

The company said in May that it would generate around two-thirds of its annual profits, currently forecast by analysts to come in at 1.65 billion pounds according to Thomson Reuters data, in the second half of the year due to the costs of a restructuring plan falling in the earlier period.

Rolls alarmed investors in February by announcing there would be a pause in profit growth in 2014, ending a decade of continuous rises, as the company absorbed the impact of declining U.S. and European military budgets. ($1 = 0.5911 British Pounds) (Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Kate Holton)