In addition to the agreement with the SFO, Rolls-Royce has also reached a DPA with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) and a leniency agreement with Brazil’s Ministério Público Federal (MPF).

In a statement to the Stock Exchange, the company said these agreements relate to bribery and corruption involving intermediaries in a number of overseas markets, concerns about which it passed to the SFO from 2012 onwards. These are voluntary agreements which result in the suspension of a prosecution provided that the company fulfils certain requirements, including the payment of a financial penalty.

Rolls-Royce has agreed to make payments to the DoJ totalling $169,917,710 (£140, 074,778) and to the MPF totalling $25,579,179 (£21,086,665). Under the terms of the DPA with the SFO, Rolls-Royce will pay £497,252,645 plus interest under a schedule lasting up to five years, plus a payment in respect of the SFO’s costs.

As a result, total payments by Rolls-Royce in the first year of all three agreements would be £293m.

In its statement, Rolls-Royce said the company will report full year 2016 results on 14 February 2017 and an appropriate update on the implications of these agreements will be provided at that time. It said early indications are that the group has had a good finish to the year with both profit and, in particular, cash expected to be ahead of expectations.

The SFO has confirmed it has reached agreement in principle with the engineering conglomerate over the DPA, which would mark its largest ever settlement and be the third such agreement the agency has concluded. The hearing to confirm the arrangement will be at 10am on Tuesday, 17 January before Sir Brian Leveson QC, at the Southwark Crown Court, sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice.