8:28 am, July 28, 2021
Aston Martin has slashed its half-year pre-tax losses from £227.4m to £90.7m as wholesale volumes rocketed, figures released today (Jul 28) show.
Results for the six months to June 30, 2021 issued via the London Stock Exchange at 7am show that volumes of vehicles including specials went up by 224 per cent on 2020’s first half of 895 to 2,901 this year.
Revenue also soared by 242 per cent to £498.8m, with adjusted EBITDA improving by more than £138m, rising to £48.8m from an £89m loss.
Its operating loss, meanwhile, was reduced from £159.3m to £38m. Net debt, however, rose from £751m in 2020 to £791.5m.
Looking at the second quarter of 2021, the luxury British sports car maker saw its pre-tax loss cut from £117.3m to £48.5m as revenue went up by a massive 380 per cent to £274.4m from £57.2m.
Adjusted EBITDA went from a £50.9m deficit to £28.1m in the black, while operating loss improved from £91.4m to £22.7m.
In the statement, highlighting its Project Horizon transformation plan, Aston Martin said there had been a good demand for current models, with the first DBX derivative poised to start production in the third quarter.
The Vantage F1 edition had been attracting strong demand, it added, and V12 Speedster deliveries had begun.
Meanwhile, the Aston Martin Valkyrie was on track for second-half deliveries, with deliveries of the Valkyrie AMR Pro hypercard to begin in the fourth quarter.
The manufacturer also singled out the successful launch of the Valhalla plug-in hybrid mid-engined supercar, pictured, at the British Grand Prix, and said all Aston Martins would have an electrified powertrain option – either hybrid or battery-electric – by 2025/26, with half of them to be battery-electric by 2030
Executive chairman Lawrence Stroll said: ‘When I joined Aston Martin just over a year ago, I had in mind key milestones that needed to be achieved to put the right foundations in place for the company’s future success.
‘These have all been delivered, from appointing a world-class leadership team, to successfully rebalancing supply to demand and crucially strengthening the financial resilience of the business.
‘Signing the landmark technology agreement with Mercedes-Benz AG underpins our product plans for the future, including the route to electrification, all supported by the important brand benefit of the Aston Martin Cognizant Formula OneTM Team.’
He added that he was ‘tremendously excited about the significant potential of the business’ as he looked to turn things around.
‘Building on the success of DB – our first SUV – we have since delivered two more new vehicles, and with more exciting product launches to come we are well positioned for growth,’ he said.
‘The launch of Valhalla last week signals a new era for specials at Aston Martin as an integral pillar of our brand and our product innovation.
‘The demand we see for our products, the new product pipeline and the quality of the team we have in place to execute gives me great confidence in our continued success as we progress towards achieving our medium-term targets of 10,000 units, £2bn revenue and £500m of adjusted EBITDA, as we transform Aston Martin to be one of the greatest ultra-luxury car brands in the world.’
Chief executive Tobias Moers commented: ‘We have performed well in the first half of the year as we continue to deliver results in line with our plans to improve profitability.
‘Demand and pricing dynamics remain strong and I am particularly pleased that we are now operating with the right supply-to-demand balance for our products, earlier than we had originally expected.’
He added: ‘I am also happy with our excellent progress on Project Horizon as we drive efficiency and agility throughout every aspect of the company.
‘Our manufacturing operations have seen significant changes with the consolidation of all sports manufacturing into a centre of excellence at Gaydon and a shift to a more efficient single production line.
‘I would like to thank all of our employees for their hard work and their dedication as Covid-19 continues to impact all of us, and for their passion, support and commitment as we continue on our journey.
‘Our good progress to date in the execution of our plans as signalled by our results today underpins our confidence in delivering our transformational growth strategy to create a world-class, self-sustaining ultra-luxury automaker.’
