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* Volumes drop 16% in three months to September
* Firm says it will meet market core earnings expectations
* Boss says company can thrive on its own
(Adds quotes, details)
By Costas Pitas
LONDON, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Luxury British carmaker Aston
Martin swung to a third-quarter loss on Thursday, saying its
full-year wholesale volumes would be lower than previously
guided after slumping demand in Europe and Asia.
Volumes to dealers dropped 16% to 1,497 cars in the three
months to the end of September as demand in Britain fell 22%,
the wider Europe, Middle East and Africa area dropped 17% and in
Asia volumes fell by a third.
The 106-year firm, famed for being fictional agent James
Bond's brand of choice, is taking action to cut costs and hopes
the launch of its first sport utility vehicle, the DBX, at a new
factory in Wales, will boost performance next year.
"We're essentially holding the cost of a complete factory
right now without the benefit of the revenues coming in... so
from that point of view of course it's a really important
model," Chief Executive Andy Palmer told Reuters.
Aston, based in Gaydon near Birmingham, posted a 13.5
million-pound loss in the three months to the end of September,
but said it still expects to meet market expectations of core
earnings at around 203 million pounds ($261 million).
But Aston has suffered since its flotation last October
where shares launched at 19 pounds ($24.50) before dropping for
months and languishing at between 4 and 5 pounds for the last
few weeks.
On Thursday, however, shares recovered slightly, up 9% to
453 pence at 0831 GMT.
Earlier this year, the company announced it was raising $150
million in debt at a 12% interest rate to bolster its balance
sheet ahead of the launch of the DBX.
On Thursday, Aston said its net interest expense guidance
for 2019 now stood at around 83 million pounds, also affected by
the impact of unhedged expenses in U.S. dollars, with prior
guidance at roughly 70 million pounds.
Aston, which is primarily owned by Italian and Kuwaiti
private equity groups, and not part of a wider automotive group,
said it could thrive on its own alongside its work with German
carmaker Daimler, which has a small stake in the firm.
"Our relationship with Daimler is also important so we're
not completely alone. We obviously have their technology to fall
back on," said Palmer.
($1 = 0.7771 pounds)
(Reporting by Costas Pitas; editing by James Davey and Jon
Boyle)
