Aston Martin warns of lower profit on supply chain, China woes
Warns Q3 profit, wholesale volume to be below market view
Says supply issues delaying delivery of cars
Cuts 2024 wholesale volume by about 1,000 units
Shares fall 8%
Adds detail on peers in paragraph 2, CEO comment in paragraph 6, detail on outlook and background throughout
Sept 30 (Reuters) -Aston Martin AML.L 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% 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 was now expected to be below market expectations, Aston Martin said.
Gross profit margins for the year are also expected to be "modestly" below 40%, compared with a previous target of about 40%.
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 STLAM.M on Monday also warned on profits and Volkswagen cut its 2024 outlook on Friday, while Mercedes-Benz MBGn.DE this month lowered its full-year profit margin target for the second time in two months.
Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Nivedita Bhattacharjee
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