Aston Martin have reported sharply improved first half financial results for 2017 amid rising global demand for its luxury handcrafted sports cars. For the six months up to 30th June, the company reported pre-tax profits of £21.1 million (S$36.9 million) - reversing a loss of £82.3 million (S$143.9 million) in the same period in 2016 - on revenues that increased to £410.4 million (S$717.8 million) from £211.8 million (S$370.4 million) in the first half of 2016.
Dr. Andy Palmer, Aston Martin President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "Aston Martin is accelerating financially with our third successive quarter of pre-tax profit. Our improving performance reflects rising demand for our new DB11 model, as well as for special edition vehicles and the ongoing benefits from our Second Century transformation plan."
For the first half, global wholesale volumes rose by 67 percent to 2,439 vehicles as orders continued to rise in the U.K., mainland Europe, the Americas and China. The average selling price per model, excluding special editions, rose 25 percent to £149,000 (S$260,500) - principally driven by the DB11 - and a higher option take rate across the range.
During the second quarter, Aston Martin continued its product offensive with the launch of the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 variant of the DB11, which combines a top speed of 300km/h with the most fuel efficient powertrain on offer by the company. It also announced plans for its first all-electric, zero-emission model: the limited-edition RapidE set to begin production in 2019.
Demand for the DB11 and continued strong sales of the V12-powered Vanquish S and Vantage S models coincided with sell-out success for special-edition vehicles such as the Vanquish Zagato Coupe and continued development work on the Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar in conjunction with Red Bull Advanced Technologies.
As the company expands, conversion work is well underway on the new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in St Athan, where assembly of the upcoming DBX SUV model is due to start in 2019, supporting up to 750 new jobs in South Wales.
Mark Wilson, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, said, "The strength of our first-half results prove that our strategy is on track. We exceeded our budget for the tenth consecutive quarter, giving us confidence that we will deliver a step-change in full-year performance. We are increasing our baseline guidance for underlying earnings of £175 million (S$306 million) on revenues of £830 million (S$1.4 billion) in 2017."
