Over the past 15 years, Rolls-Royce (LSE: RR) has lurched from disaster to disaster and shareholders have had to bear the pain. The stock has produced an awful total return (ie including dividends) of -1.2% per year over the past decade-and-a-half, compared to 5.4% for the FTSE All Share.
In some ways, this performance is surprising. Rolls is one of just two organisations that essentially control the global market for narrow-body aircraft engines. It also designs, produces and maintains the nuclear technology in the Royal Navy’s submarine fleet.
