Rolls-Royce (LSE:RR., Financial) is one of the leading producers of wide-body aircraft engines, which are typically used in larger airplanes designed for long-haul and international travel. The Covid-19 pandemic has materially hurt the company's business. Although we expect travel will rebound strongly following vaccine distribution, we believe it will take longer for long-haul and international travel to revert back to pre-pandemic levels. As a result, our intrinsic value estimate fell quite materially during the pandemic, though we continued to hold our position since the share price remained below our estimate of intrinsic value. As the share price moved closer to our estimate of intrinsic value in the fourth quarter, we began reducing our position until we were fully exited during the past quarter. We allocated the capital from the divesture of Rolls-Royce into securities with strong risk-return profiles.
From David Herro (Trades, Portfolio)'s Oakmark Global Fund first-quarter 2021 shareholder commentary.
