Aston Martin profits rev up

Aston Martin Holdings (UK) Ltd has reported sharply improved first-half and second quarter financial results amid rising global demand for its luxury handcrafted sports cars.

For the six months to June 30, the company reported pre-tax profits of £21.1m – reversing a loss of £82.3m in the same period of 2016.

In the second quarter, pre-tax profits reached £15.2m on revenues of £222m, compared with a pre-tax loss of £52.6m on revenues of £119.2m in the prior-year quarter.

Dr Andy Palmer, Aston Martin president and chief executive officer, said, ‘Aston Martin is accelerating financially with our third successive quarter of pre-tax profit. Our improving performance reflects rising demand for our new DB11 model, as well as for special edition vehicles and the ongoing benefits from our Second Century transformation plan.”

For the first half, global wholesale volumes rose by 67% to 2,439 vehicles as orders continued to rise in the UK, mainland Europe, the Americas and China. The average selling price per model, excluding special editions, rose 25% to £149,000.

Mark Wilson, executive vice president and chief financial officer, said, ‘The strength of our first-half results prove that our strategy is on track. We exceeded our budget for the tenth consecutive quarter, giving us confidence that we will deliver a step-change in full-year performance. We are increasing our baseline guidance for underlying earnings of £175m on revenues of £830m in 2017.’