Rolls-Royce's Order book increased by 76% to a record £45.9bn last year, with the Asia and Middle East order book more than doubling to £20bn in 2007.

According to the groups Preliminary Results 2007 sales increased to £7,435m from £7,156m in 2006 however profit before financing dropped from £693m in 2006 to £512m.

The average net cash was doubled from 2006 to £350m after reflecting the £500m pension scheme contribution.

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Sir John Rose, Chief Executive, said: "We have delivered a strong set of results in challenging conditions.

"The breadth of our product and service portfolio, our access to expanding global markets and our focus on productivity and efficiency give us confidence that Rolls-Royce will continue to deliver profitable growth."

Shareholder payments for 2007 will in aggregate be 35% higher than in 2006.

Final payment to shareholders increased by 51% to 8.96p per share (2006 5.92p per share), making a full year total of 13.00p per share (2006 9.59p per share).

(GK/JM)