Aston Martin signals descending profit on supply chain, China woes

Low profit of Aston Martin: Aston Martin on Monday warned of lower annual core profit and cut its forecast for production volumes on supply chain disruptions and weakness in China, sending shares 8 per cent lower in early trade.

The British luxury carmaker joins other European peers in flagging a difficult environment in China, the world's largest car market.

Aston Martin said it no longer expects to achieve positive free cash flow in the first half and that it was cutting its 2024 wholesale volumes target by about 1,000 vehicles to address the issue.

"The company is experiencing a growing number of late component arrivals due to disruption at several of its suppliers," Aston Martin said.

An increasing number of cars were taking longer to complete and deliveries were getting delayed, it added.

Aston Martin had stopped manufacturing old models, and a ramp-up in production of fresh models was expected to drive revenue and profit growth from the second half of this year.

"Near-perfect execution was required to meet the company's ambitious 2024 plan. However, it has become clear that we need to take decisive action to adjust our production volumes for 2024," new CEO Adrian Hallmark said in a statement.

Adjusted core profit and wholesale volumes in the third quarter were now expected to be below market expectations, Aston Martin said.

Gross profit margins for the year are also expected to be "modestly" below 40 per cent, compared with a previous target of about 40 per cent.

Sales in China were already on the decline for Aston Martin. The group said in July it would launch its next-generation sports cars in China, hoping to turn around its fortunes in the key market.

Stellantis on Monday also warned on profits and Volkswagen cut its 2024 outlook on Friday, while Mercedes-Benz this month lowered its full-year profit margin target for the second time in two months.