Which is the greater disappointment, the fact that Rolls-Royce did not hand back a big chunk of cash or the erosion of its claims to be a non-cylical, service-based business? A combination of the two prompted shares in the UK engine maker to slump 10 per cent on Thursday after a set of full-year results that were largely as expected.

The problem is that with average net cash of £350m last year, the group is sitting on its strongest balance sheet in more than a decade. But a year-long review of Rolls’s financial strategy produced only a one-third increase in the dividend – an annual extra cash return of £50m compared with the £500m-plus one-off payment anticipated by some in the market.