The Daily Telegraph

Aston betting on supercar surge after £495m loss

- By Howard Mustoe

ASTON Martin is betting that a combinatio­n of high-margin supercars and its best-selling SUV will help it put an end to years of losses, including a £495m deficit last year.

The luxury marque said it had already pre-sold many of the sports cars it plans to make this year as it reported better than expected production numbers for its Valkyrie hypercars. The £2.5m vehicles have the same high-end specificat­ions as a Formula 1 car.

Aston Martin said it would be focusing on more luxury vehicles such as these – including a limited-edition car to commemorat­e the company’s 110th anniversar­y this year – as a turnaround effort under Lawrence Stroll, its executive chairman, enters its fourth year.

All the DBX sports utility vehicles that Aston Martin plans to manufactur­e until autumn are already pre-sold. And 80pc of the sports cars and GT models, such as the Vantage and DBS, that Aston will produce this year are also pre-sold.

The company delivered 80 of its Valkyries last year, up from 10 in 2021 in a sign that production problems are easing. The higher than expected completion numbers helped bolster sales in 2022, which rose 26pc.

Half the cars sold last year were DBX SUVS and Aston Martin said this model will be key to future growth.

The Warwickshi­re-based business is aiming for £2bn in sales by 2025 and £500m of earnings before interest payments, write-offs to old machinery and tax. The company said its next generation of cars will have profit margins of 40pc in a bid to return the company to profitabil­ity.

As a result, the carmaker said it should hit its 2025 target with sales of just 8,000 cars a year, down from a previous target of 10,000. Last year it sold 6,412 vehicles.

Doug Lafferty, finance chief, said he was “very confident” of meeting its 2025 goals. Neverthele­ss, losses rose to £495m in 2022, up from £214m a year earlier, as interest payments on its £700m debt pile climbed.

The sports car company has struggled with high debts since it was relisted on the stock market as an independen­t business in 2018. Shares rose 5pc in afternoon trading yesterday.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom