Aston Martin losses dramatically widen to over £118m

Library image of Aston Martin's first sports utility vehicle (SUV), the DBX, outside the company's factory in St Athan in South Wales.

Pre-tax losses hit £118.9m in the first quarter of 2020, compared to £17.3m in the same period last year, Aston Martin revealed, as revenue more than halved to £78.6m.

The company said that the covid-19 pandemic had hurt dealer demand during the quarter, and withdrew all its financial guidance for the year.

It sold 578 vehicles in the three months, compared to 1,057 in the equivalent period in 2019.

Aston Martin Lagonda executive chairman Lawrence Stroll said: "While in the short term, as anticipated, we will have some difficulties due to the onset of covid-19, having been in the business for a few weeks now I am even more enthusiastic and confident in the multi-year plan that we have set out to bring new and exciting products to market to drive demand and build the Aston Martin brand.

"My immediate priority is to rebalance supply and demand, reducing dealer stock.

"Although nearly all our dealers are compromised and our factories were closed, we are focused on achieving results and delivering our plan. We have made very good progress very quickly, with dealer inventory down 428 units in just one quarter, more than double the level achieved in the whole of 2019.

"With St Athan reopened safely last week, I am extremely pleased that DBX remains on track for deliveries in the summer and has a strong order book behind it extending into 2021."

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