Aston Martin losses more than double amid hopes for turnaround in 2023

theguardian.com:

Aston Martin has revealed that its losses more than doubled during 2022 as the sportscar maker spent heavily on new models and struggled through supply chain problems hitting the global car industry.

The UK-listed carmaker reported a loss before tax of £495m in 2022, up from £214m the year before, even as sales rose 26% to £1.4bn. It made an operating loss of £118m after adjusting for some one-off costs, less than the £135m expected by analysts.

The company has struggled for years to turn itself around after an overambitious listing on the London Stock Exchange in late 2018. It was taken over in early 2020 by the fashion billionaire Lawrence Stroll, just as the coronavirus pandemic hit.

Since then, Stroll has as the executive chair sought to move Aston Martin’s brand upmarket – with higher prices – and cut its crippling debt pile, including a £650m fundraising in July that took money from Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund.

Aston Martin sold 6,400 cars during 2022 but it was hit by higher spending including reinvestments including marketing and expensive new product launches, as well as the impact of high inflation across its operations. At the same time it spent £287m mainly on developing new models.

The company, which will turn 110 this year, said it expected to stop burning through cash in the second half of 2023, and it predicted sales of 7,000 cars in 2023. However, it said the “operating environment remains volatile, including ongoing inflationary pressures and pockets of supply chain disruptions”.

It is also planning for 2023 to be its “peak year” for spending under Stroll’s leadership, including what it said was the “final year of significant expenditure associated with our internal combustion engine portfolio”.