Ray of light for Aston Martin despite plunging global sales

MIDLAND sports car manufacturer Aston Martin has seen sales tumble and losses increase as the impact of the coronavirus lockdown takes hold.

In its half-year results for the six months to July 2020, the company said it sold 1,770 cars, compared with 2,996 in the same period in 2019 – a drop of 41 per cent – after businesses across the world were forced to close their doors in March.

Pre-tax losses grew from £80 million in 2019 to £227.4 million while overall revenue dropped 64 per cent year on year to £146 million from £406 million at the firm which is headquartered in Gaydon, Warwickshire.

The announcement is the second set of financial figures unveiled since industry veteran Lawrence Stroll was installed as executive chairman in April and comes just days ahead of new chief executive Tobias Moers joining the firm. Results are expected to be better in the next quarterly update in the autumn as many of the firm’s dealerships have now reopened. In China, where Aston Martin restarted sales in June, sales were up 11 per cent, an “encouraging” sign, according to the stock exchange statement.

It has been a turbulent six months for Aston Martin, which was forced to raise £688 million from a consortium of shareholders led by Mr Stroll. He said: “Obviously, it has been a challenging period with our dealers and factories closed due to Covid-19, in addition to aligning our sales with inventory with the associated impact on financial performance as we reposition for future success.

“However, I have been most impressed that, through this most challenging of times, we have been able to reduce our dealers’ sports car inventory by 869 units.” Meanwhile, the business said that an accounting method error in the US had forced it to recalculate some of its figures from last year.

It meant a reduction of £15.3 million in earnings before interest and tax in 2019.