Luxury carmaker Aston Martin has seen its shares come under further pressure after it alerted over profits for the second time in as many months and tapped investors for more cash.
The group revealed plans for the fundraise after the market close on Tuesday as it also warned that underlying earnings would be lower than forecast this year, at between £270 million and £280 million.
Aston had already cut its outlook in September.
Shares in the firm fell as much as 9% at one stage on Wednesday before settling around 5% down after the latest gloomy update.
It comes amid a difficult time for European car firms, which have been knocked by sliding sales, overseas competition as well as pressure ahead of new electric vehicle targets in the UK.
With this financing successfully secured, we are now well positioned for growth
Vauxhall owner Stellantis revealed plans on Tuesday to shut the carmaker’s Luton factory, partly blaming the “stringent” UK zero-emission vehicle mandate.
Aston Martin – famous for making fictional spy James Bond’s cars – has seen its stock tumble 56% so far this year as it has battled supply chain issues and production delays as well as slumping demand from the key Chinese market.
It said on Wednesday it had successfully raised around £211 million through a share placing, with another £100 million secured through debt raising from bond holders, to help fund future growth.
Adrian Hallmark, chief executive of Aston Martin, said: “We thank our investors, including our strategic investors who continue to show strong support for the company, for their commitments and confidence in Aston Martin.
“With this financing successfully secured, we are now well positioned for growth.”
Lawrence Stroll, the group’s executive chairman, added: “With the strong backing of Aston Martin’s strategic shareholders and the board, Adrian now leads the company into an exciting 2025 with a stronger and more resilient balance sheet.”
The group is now expecting to deliver around half the 38 new Valiant models by the end of the year, having previously said it would be the majority.
It blamed this on “a minor delay in the timing of a small number of deliveries”.
The group had warned in September that supply chain issues would hit annual production by about 1,000 cars.
Meanwhile, it has also been battling weak trading in China amid a downturn in demand across the country, with Chinese sales volumes in the first nine months of the year falling 54% compared with the same point in 2023.
Since Aston Martin was bought by Canadian billionaire Mr Stroll in 2020, it has pushed on with a swathe of new model launches in a bid to turn its ailing fortunes around.
It recently appointed Mr Hallmark as its new chief executive, with him taking on the role in September amid a ramping up of sales of its new Vantage and DBX707 models, which it said helped boost production volumes.
Aston Martin delivered just 1,998 cars in the first half of 2024, nearly one-third fewer than the same period last year, while it also said in July that pre-tax losses widened to £216.7 million, down from £142.2 million.
The firm is in the middle of a multi-year turnaround effort kicked off by Mr Stroll.
He has already had to bring in new shareholders such as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in recent years to help bankroll the carmaker.
