Aston Martin Lagonda is going to issue new shares to raise around £260 million ($320 million), around 20 percent of its existing equity capital as part of its turnaround plan by the company’s new owners.
The British carmaker, which posted a loss of £119 million ($146 million) in the first quarter of this year, will issue new shares, of which 25 percent will be bought by new owner Lawrence Stroll’s Yew Tree company and 8 percent will be bought by Prestige Motors, previously the company’s main shareholder.
Aston Martin, which has already announced job cuts and other cost-cutting measures, also said that it expects sales to further drop in the second quarter compared to the first one, according to Reuters.
“We are making very good progress on my first priority, the rebalancing of supply and demand and reducing dealer stock as we reset the business and restore exclusivity,” said Lawrence Stroll, Aston Martin’s Chairman.
Stroll plans to “right-size” Aston Martin by only selling cars that have been paid for by customers rather than filling dealerships to drive revenues up, the Financial Times report. The company reduced unsold dealer stock by 189 cars in April and May, following a reduction of 428 vehicles during the first quarter of the year.
Aston Martin has also secured a £20 million (around $25 million) loan from the UK government due to the business hit from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Earlier this month, the British carmaker announced the loss of up to 500 jobs but added that the launch schedule for the DBX, Aston Martin’s first SUV model, remains on track with first deliveries set to start this summer.