Luxury carmaker Aston Martin Lagonda has revealed the depth of its financial struggle as it posted losses worse than analysts had anticipated.
Pre-tax losses widened to £88.7 million in the second quarter, up from £61.2 million in the same period a year ago, leaving the group £154.2 million in the red for the first half overall.
Underlying operating losses did narrow slightly to £52 million in the second quarter from £57 million a year ago, though the figure still fell short of market expectations.
Despite the headline numbers, Aston Martin (AML.L) insisted it has delivered a “materially improved” first-half performance compared to the prior year period.
The group pointed to the sale of 220 units of its new Valhalla plug-in hybrid supercar as a key bright spot, with orders expected to accelerate through the second half.
First-half revenues jumped 38% to £628.6 million, with wholesale sales by volume climbing 21% over the same stretch.
Chief executive Adrian Hallmark said: “First half 2026 demonstrates that we are on track to deliver material financial improvement this year compared with 2025.”
Hallmark added: “We expect an even stronger second half, as transformation benefits flow through and Specials deliveries continue.”
The business has faced significant external pressures, including rising US tariffs and higher taxes on luxury vehicles in China, both of which have weighed on performance.
Aston Martin also flagged fresh concern over the Middle East conflict, noting it represented the “latest macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty” facing the business.
The company said it “managed to limit the direct impact to the business in H1 2026” but warned it continues to monitor potential effects on demand, customer confidence, and supply chains.
To shore up its balance sheet, the group last week secured a £550 million debt funding deal from BlackRock-owned HPS Investment Partners.
That came on top of more than £600 million already secured from chairman and largest shareholder Lawrence Stroll since the Canadian billionaire took control of the firm.
Aston Martin has also been pursuing an aggressive cost-cutting programme, with up to nearly 600 jobs being eliminated across the group following an announcement made in February.
The planned reductions target up to a fifth of its 2,800-strong global workforce, following an earlier round of 170 redundancies announced at the start of last year.
The company said the job cuts are aimed at stripping out around £40 million in costs, with the majority of savings expected to be realised during the current financial year.
