£500m wiped off Aston Martin’s value

Aston Martin's share price has been in decline since it floated in October 2018

Aston Martin Lagonda’s disastrous first year as a public company reached a new low yesterday after its shares plunged 26%, wiping more than £500m off the company’s value.

It is now likely the manufacturer will sell fewer cars than last year, despite only two months ago saying it was on track to hit its target of a 10% increase. It sold 6,441 vehicles in 2018 and is now forecasting a range of 6,300-6,500 for 2019.

In a statement to the stock market, it said: “The challenging external environment highlighted in May has worsened, as have macro-economic uncertainties. We anticipate that this softness will continue for the remainder of the year and are planning prudently for 2020.”

Aston Martin said it is “taking immediate actions” to reduce its fixed cost base.

Dr Andy Palmer, Aston Martin Lagonda group chief executive, said: “Whilst retails have grown by 26% year-to-date, our wholesale performance is adversely impacted by macro-economic uncertainty and enduring weakness in UK and European markets.

“We are disappointed that short-term wholesales have fallen short of our original expectations, but we are committed to maintaining quality of sales and protecting our brand position first and foremost.

“We are today taking decisive action to manage inventory and the Aston Martin Lagonda brands for the long-term. We remain focused on the successful execution of the Second Century Plan and on delivering sustainable long-term growth.”

Aston Martin’s shares were priced at 1900p when the car maker floated last October, valuing the company at £4.33bn.

But they have fallen drastically in value since then and yesterday’s slump saw the shares hit a new low price at the close of 767p, which values the manufacturer at £1.8bn – £2.5bn lower than just nine months ago.

The market value of Aston Martin has dropped from £4.33bn, when it floated last October, to £1.8bn yesterday

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