Aston Martin’s shares put in a spin

Aston Martin’s share price was put in another spin yesterday and has now lost half of its value since it floated less than six months ago.

Its shares fell 8% yesterday to 936p after Deutsche Bank analysts changed gear on the stock, shifting from Buy to Hold, and halving its share price target to 1000p.

The manufacturer has had an uncomfortable first few months as a public company since it floated last October at 1900p per share.

It was valued at £4.3bn, but its share price has been falling consistently from the start and last night closed at a new low that was less than half of its launch price.

In February Aston Martin revealed annual revenues of more than £1bn for the first time after it achieved a big jump in car sales. It sold 6,441 vehicles in 2018, 26% more than a year earlier, although the average selling price was down slightly to £157,000.

At the time chief executive Dr Andy Palmer said it had been “an outstanding year” for the company, “delivering strong growth, with improving revenues, unit sales and adjusted profits”.

Adjusted EBITDA – a measure of operational profitability – was up 20% to £247m.

However adjusting items of £136m relating to the IPO – including the £61m cost of settling long-term employee incentives – dragged the group’s operating performance down to a statutory pre-tax loss of £68m.