Carmaker Aston Martin Lagonda said on Monday that it had narrowed its full-year operating loss in 2021 thanks to a considerable increase in annual revenues.
Aston Martin stated full-year revenues had grown 79% in 2021 to £1.1bn, helping the firm cut operating losses from £323.0m in 2020 to £77.0m a year later. The FTSE 250-listed firm also confirmed that it had delivered underlying earnings of £138.0m, a marked improvement when compared to the prior year’s £70.0m underlying loss.
AML also highlighted that its revenue increase was largely due to “substantial volume growth”, driven by customer demand, and strong pricing dynamics. The revenue growth also represented a 12% increase on 2019’s pre-Covid revenues of £981.0m.
Wholesales increased 82% as more normal operating resumed following Covid-19 restrictions in 2020, with the group delivering over 3,000 DBX S models.
Year-end cash balances slipped from £489.0m to £419.0m and net debt increased from £727.0m to £892.0m.
Outgoing chief financial officer Kenneth Gregor said: “The financial position of the company has improved substantially over the past year. In early 2021 we completed destocking our dealer network and have since benefitted from strong retail demand and pricing.
“We have significantly improved our profitability and reduced our cash outflow to help deliver on our growth ambitions and medium-term plan.”
AML added that downstream petroleum company Vivo Energy’s CFO Doug Lafferty will join the group on 1 May, while Gregor will remain with the company until 30 June to assist with the transition of responsibility to the new finance chief.
Over at Vivo, the firm stated that in order to enact an orderly succession, Jan-Timo Rebisch, group controller, and Issam Sadiq, group treasurer, will lead the firm’s finance function on an interim basis until a new CFO can be appointed. Vivo stated the search for a new CFO was already underway.
As of 0805 GMT, AML shares were up 0.42% at 862.0p, while Vivo shares were 0.14% weaker at 136.40p.
