Aston Martin shaken as broker stirs up trouble

James Bond can escape the stickiest of situations.

But Aston Martin, the British car maker which found fame through the 007 films, has been unable to pull itself out of a downward spiral since floating on the stock market last year.

The group’s shares hit an alltime low yesterday, as brokers at Deutsche Bank said they expected Brexit-related uncertainty and volatility in the global car market to depress demand for its highend vehicles.

since aston martin debuted on the stock market last October, with an eye-watering price tag of more than £4bn, its shares have skidded 48.3pc.

Yesterday alone they dipped 7.8pc, or 79.4p, to 936p, leaving the company worth just £2.3bn.

Brokers also bruised over-50s specialist Saga. The holiday, insurance and investment services firm fell to a record low following a profit warning last week.

It cautioned investors that Brexit was pushing older Britons to scale back their travel plans, which was hurting the company’s growth. The shares fell another 9.8pc, or 6.5p, to 60p yesterday as analysts at UBs pointed out the firm had cut profit expectations twice since it floated on the stock market in 2014, and has removed its medium-term guidance for earnings growth.

UBs also had a jibe at saga’s management, saying their track record of executing improvements is ‘limited’. The broker slashed its target price for the stock from 150p to 65p.

But there were some bright spots on the FTse 250.

Indivior, which makes drugs to treat heroin addiction, climbed after revealing data from two studies. The first showed that patients taking a higher dose of Indivior’s once-monthly injection sublocade had a better chance of abstaining from opioid use than those on a lower dose.

The second indicated sublocade may reduce breathing problems caused by use of fentanyl, a highly potent drug sometimes added to heroin. Indivior’s shares went up by 5.6pc, or 5.6p, to 104.75p.

The FTSE 100 index ended the day almost flat, just 0.1pc, or 5.02 points higher, at 7451.89 points.

miner Anglo American led the way, as its copper chief Hennie Faul said new technologies being rolled out could boost productivity by up to 30pc. shares crept up 1pc, or 22p, to 2206.5p.

Housebuilders Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Developments were also on the up as investors have cautiously begun to return to the Brexit-battered firms. On Friday, fund manager Neil Woodford said in a letter to investors that his portfolios – which include Barratt and Taylor Wimpey – were full of ‘profoundly undervalued’ companies. He argued that many UK stocks have been ‘left behind’ since the Brexit referendum, as investors steer clear of domestically-focused businesses.

Barratt climbed 0.6pc, or 3.8p, to 619.8p, while Taylor Wimpey was up 0.3pc, or 0.5p, to 184.5p.

engineering stocks, however, took a hit after the world’s largest plane maker Boeing announced production cuts following two deadly crashes.

CmC markets analyst David madden said this would lead to reduced demand for products manufactured by British firms such as Meggitt and Melrose.

meggitt edged up 0.2pc, or 0.8p, to 527.6p. But melrose slid by 2pc, or 3.8p, to 189p, and equipment rental firm Ashtead dipped by 0.9pc, or 19p, to 2014p.

Gold miner Centamin, which was given a bloody nose by investors over pay last year, clearly hadn’t learned its lesson as 33.7pc of voting shareholders again revolted over directors’ remuneration. shares were up a marginal 0.2pc, or 0.18p, at 89.98p.