First-quarter profit milestone fuels car maker’s optimism
Aston Martin has reported a first-quarter profit for the first time in a decade in a milestone for its turnaround strategy.
The Gaydon-based manufacturer more than doubled its revenues to £188m, achieving pre-tax profits of £5.9m.
The DB11, launched last year, has received a strongly-positive response from customers.
Aston Martin’s chief financial officer Mark Wilson, in an interview with Reuters, said: “We’re now in an area and an environment where we are generating demand in excess of supply.”
The improvement in its financial performance will add fuel to the reports that the company is considering a floatation as early as next year.
In February Aston Martin forecast that its 2017 revenues would be between £785m and £815m, with the mid-range representing a 70% increase in three years.
It also expected a big leap in operational profitability, as measured by EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation), of between £160m and £165m.
The Warwickshire manufacturer was founded in 1913 and launched its Second Century plan in response to a £50m sales fall and big losses in 2014.
The first phase of the strategy, business stabilisation, was focused on stopping the dramatic sales fall.
The second and third phases of its plans are focused on strengthening its core offer and expanding its portfolio. It has the ambition of bringing one new model to market every nine months until 2020.
