Aston Martin slide leads FTSE 250 fallers as battery electric car plans delayed again

Aston Martin slide leads FTSE 250 fallers as battery electric car plans delayed again

Aston Martin Lagonda (AML.L) was the biggest faller on the FTSE 250 (^FTMC) on Wednesday morning, with the stock down 13%, after the luxury carmaker announced job cuts and pushed back the launch of its electric vehicle.

Aston Martin (AML.L), famed for its association with the James Bond films, said that around 170 roles would be axed — representing about 5% of its global workforce — as part of plans to optimise its cost base.

The company said it expected these job cuts to generate an annualised saving of around £25m ($31.6m), of which about 50% would be realised in its 2025 fiscal year with “associated transformation costs expected to be circa £10m”.

The announcement came in Aston Martin’s (AML.L) 2024 preliminary results, with the company reporting a 3% fall in revenue to £1.58bn for the year.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were down 11% for the year to £271m. This was at the bottom end of guidance issued in November of adjusted EBITDA of betweem £270m and £280m for the year.

While Aston Martin (AML.L) said its operating loss had shrunk to 99.5m, net debt had ballooned 43% to £1.16bn.

Aston Martin (AML.L) had another challenging year in 2024, having issued a couple of profit warnings and having turned to investors twice to raise additional funds.

For the year ahead, Aston Martin (AML.L) said expected to deliver “material financial performance improvement” with positive adjusted EBIT. The company maintained its medium-term guidance for 2027/28, expecting to generate around £2.5bn in revenue and adjusted EBIT of around £400m.

In Wednesday’s results announcement, Aston Martin (AML.L) said the launch of its first battery electric vehicle (BEV) was planned for the “latter part of this decade”.

This is the second time Aston Martin (AML.L) has pushed back the launch of its first fully electric car, having already said last year that it planned to rollout its BEV in 2026.

Aston Martin (AML.L) has rolled out a new range of core models over the past couple of years. This started with the launch of the DB12 in the second half of 2023, followed by the new Vantage in February 2024. Aston Martin (AML.L) also announced a 2025 upgrade to its DBX707 SUV model earlier last year, followed by the launch of its V12 flagship Vanquish sports car in September.

Aston Martin (AML.L) told Yahoo Finance UK that the DB12 model was its bestselling car, followed by the Vantage , Vanquish and then the DBX707 vehicles.

Following the transformation of its core portfolio over the last 18 months, Aston Martin (AML.L) said on Wednesday that its focus for 2025 was on the launch of the plug-in hybrid Valhalla supercar. The carmaker said orders on the supercar already covered its first full year of production.

Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.L), noted that to get

Revenue moving in the right direction again, Aston Martin’s (AML.L) hoping to stimulate demand for its ultra-luxury models through marketing and tailored initiatives.

“These high-end models tend to be more profitable, and it’s hoped that growth in markets such as the USA and China can help fuel a return to profitability this year.”

He said,

While the company seems optimistic, investors should keep in mind that there are lots of potential potholes in the road ahead,

“On top of that, rumours are swirling that British car manufacturers could see president Trump impose a tariff of as high as 25% on their vehicles being imported to the US, which would likely hit Aston Martin (AML.L) hard.”

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Aston Martin slide leads FTSE 250 fallers as battery electric car plans delayed again, source