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Aston Martin shares jumped on Wednesday, after it said it is set for a ‘strong second half performance’, despite a widened first half loss. The Gaydon, England-based luxury sports car maker also confirmed Adrian Hallmark will take over as chief executive officer from September 1, with Amedeo Felisa stepping down on the same date. Shares in Aston Martin were up 8.3% to 162.40 pence each in London on Wednesday morning. The carmaker’s revenue in the first-half of 2024 declined 11% to £603.0 million from £677.4 million a year prior, causing its pretax loss to widen to £216.7 million from £142.2 million. Executive Chair Lawrence Stroll said: ‘In line with prior guidance, our execution in the first half of the year focused on the successful delivery of our new Vantage and upgraded DBX707, and we remain on track to deliver a strong second half performance. This will be underpinned by a significant ramp up in wholesale volumes including both the new V12 flagship Vanquish and ultra-exclusive Valiant Special, which we recently unveiled at Goodwood with Fernando Alonso.’ Looking ahead, the firm expects its third-quarter volume performance to ‘materially improve sequentially’ compared with the second. The final quarter is to be the ‘most material’ for volumes and its financial performance. In the first half, wholesale volumes were 1,998 vehicles, down 32% from 2,954 a year before. They were 1,053 in the second quarter alone, down 38% from 1,685 a year before. Separately on Wednesday, Aston Martin confirmed Hallmark will take over as CEO from September 1, with Felisa stepping down on the same date. The company named Hallmark as its new CEO back in March. Most recently, Hallmark has served as chair & CEO of Volkswagen AG’s Bentley Motors Ltd, a position he has held since 2018. He replaces Felisa, who has served as CEO since May 2022. Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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