Aston Martin sales rise as it reiterates plans to push ahead with a new plant in Wales
The sky may be falling for many, but luxury car maker Aston Martin is doing a-ok, it said today: in fact, revenues rose almost nine per cent in 2015.
The company, which last year produced a special limited-edition supercar just for James Bond's latest outing, Spectre, said full-year revenues rose to £510.2m in 2015.
Meanwhile, adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation rose 7.6 per cent to £71.4m..
But it also racked up an operating loss of £58.3m, which it said was down to investment and non-recurring charges of £30.2m, plus a £10.1m expenditure on finance, "linked to the issuance of new preference shares". It also said spending on new product development had risen 40 per cent, to £161m.
Sales of the DB11 – the post-Bond mean machine it launched at this year's Geneva Motor Show – were ahead of expectations, it added. So far, it's had orders for 2,000 of the cars, which won Production Car of the Year at the Car Design Awards.
And it reiterated that it will press ahead with its plans to create a new manufacturing plant in St Athan in Wales, allowing it build its first-ever crossover vehicle, which will launch in 2019. The new plant will create 750 jobs.
“We managed our balance sheet prudently at a time of major investments," said Mark Wilson, the company's chief financial officer.
"While the investment spend and costs of reorganisation led to an operating loss in 2015, Aston Martin is performing ahead of budget.”