Aston Martin debuts on the market

LONDON (Reuters) – Shares of luxury automaker Aston Martin (AML.L) lost up to 6.5% when it debuted in the London market Wednesday, after investors and analysts worried that it might be difficult to achieve the ambitious launch of new models.

The company, which made its first profit since 2010 and went bankrupt seven times last year, valued its shares at 19 pounds each, giving it a market capitalization of 4.33 billion pounds (5.63 billion pounds). billions of dollars).

The shares fell to 17.75 pounds and lost 3.16% at 07:59 GMT.

Aston Martin had initially set a range of £ 17.50 to £ 22.50 per share, but that Monday was reduced to £ 18.50 to £ 20, stating that the interest purchased was sufficient to cover all the shares sold.

Investors and analysts, however, were concerned about the risk of execution associated with its plans to roll out new models: Aston Martin plans to launch a new base model every year by 2022.

"Aston Martin has very aggressive growth plans. The execution of this growth must be flawless – nothing consumes more money than a car company when the cycle runs. It is feared that it will be more cyclical than the commentary, "said James Congdon, general manager of Cash Returns Specialist, Quest.

"Banks have done a good job for their client – but there is no rebound."

EVALUATION

In 2017, adjusted earnings before interest, amortization and amortization of Aston Martin rose to 206.5 million pounds, up from 100.9 million pounds in 2016.

Aston Martin's closest comparable is Ferrari (RACE.MI) listed in 2015 and traded with a business value of 22.2 times EBITDA, according to Refinitiv data.

On the basis of this indicator and Aston Martin's net debt of £ 538.8 million, the British manufacturer was slightly onerous in its early days – its price being 23.6 times EBITDA.

According to its pricing performance, Aston Martin could well enter the FTSE 100 .FTSE – the UK's leading automaker in the first-order index since Jaguar.

Its shareholders, which include the Italian investment company Investindustrial and a group of investors based in Kuwait, have sold a quarter of its existing shares and do not collect any new money, which means that no funds will only be injected into the business directly as a result of registration.

The poor start of Aston Martin is the latest blow to the cautious IPO market in Europe.

British Funding Crowdfunding Platform (FCH.L) is down more than 20% since its IPO last week – shattering the hopes of the London Stock Exchange to become an attractive listing destination for technology companies worth more than $ 1 billion .