Rolls caught in bribery claims
ROLLS-Royce yesterday sought to head off reputational damage adding to a worsening business outlook after it was dragged into a corruption scandal engulfing Brazilian energy giant Petrobras.
The FTSE 100 aircraft engines maker reiterated its zero-tolerance approach to wrongdoing after it was named by a former executive of Brazilian state oil company Petrobras as having paid bribes there, according to reports.
The detail emerged from among hundreds of pages of documents released this month by Brazil's federal court system. It is alleged that Rolls, which makes gas turbines for Petrobras oil platforms, paid bribes via an agent in exchange for a $100million contract.
Court details reportedly showed Petrobras informant Pedro Barusco, who has been giving information as part of a plea bargain struck when he was arrested last year, received at least $200,000 from Rolls.
We have always been clear we will not tolerate improper business conduct of any sort and will take all necessary action to ensure compliance, including co-operating with authorities in any country
A spokesperson for Rolls, led by chief executive John Rishton, said: "We have not received details of the allegations made in recent press reports, nor have we been approached by the authorities in Brazil.
"We have always been clear we will not tolerate improper business conduct of any sort and will take all necessary action to ensure compliance, including co-operating with authorities in any country."
The festering corruption scandal at Petrobras, which has led to billions of pounds of suspect transactions being uncovered by police, recently forced the resignation of its chief executive along with five senior directors.
Rolls is already under investigation by the UK's Serious Fraud Office over alleged malpractice in China and Indonesia after an independent investigation commissioned by the company turned up "matters of concern".
Last Friday the company, which sounded two profit alerts in 2014 partly as governments cut defence spending, posted its first fall in underlying revenue for a decade along with an 8 per cent drop in pre-tax profit and warned its annual profit could be 13 per cent lower than the previous year due to the impact of weaker oil prices.
Rolls is undergoing its biggest jobs cut programme in six years, shedding 2,600 staff from its 55,000 global workforce over the next year or so in a bid to bring down its annual costs by £80million.
