MARKET REPORT: Aston Martin shares take a dive

Aston Martin shares dived after the luxury car maker went cap in hand to investors yet again. 

The James Bond favourite tapped up shareholders for another £152m – though it had wanted to raise up to £190m. 

It also accessed £55m in high-interest credit. 

The fundraising and debt will give the group an extra £207m of wiggle room combined.

The latest rejig of its finances comes just two months after a £536m rescue led by executive chairman and F1 billionaire Lawrence Stroll. 

Striking a buoyant tone, Stroll said in a trading update that more than 90 per cent of dealerships are now open and its first SUV, the DBX, is in production. 

His turnaround strategy includes only selling cars that have been paid for by customers, instead of piling them into showrooms. 

It has managed to flog another 189 cars that were unsold dealer stock in April and May – and 617 so far this year including the 428 in the first quarter. But after the latest appeal for assistance, which even the most loyal investors might have had to grit their teeth through, shares ended 18.4 per cent lower, down 11.5p, at 50.9p. 

Worth £4.8billion when it listed in late 2018, it is now valued at around £774m. 

Aston wasn’t the only company seeking to shore up extra cash. 

Budget airline Easyjet hit some turbulence, falling 2.7 per cent, or 18.4p, to 651.6p, after it agreed to sell six of its planes for £206m to Japan’s SMBC Aviation and lease them back so it can still use them. 

It capped off a busy week for Easyjet, which also raised £419m and announced it will begin flights to Europe from 14 major airports from July 1. Engineer Weir also managed to reach a new agreement on its finances that will extend the times needed to pay back £970m of lending. 

The group, whose shares rose 5.4 per cent, or 55.5p, to 1088.5p, also said work in the mining sector had held up well between April and May despite some Covid-19- related disruptions. 

The FTSE100 finished up 0.2 per cent, or 12.16 points, at 6159.3, while the FTSE250 rose minimally by just 0.01 per cent, or 1.09 point, to 17113.21. 

Estate agent Countrywide was in investors’ good books after reporting property sales have risen back to around 71 per cent of 2019 levels, while demand for let properties is at about 88 per cent. 

Analysts are sceptical about how long the recent rebound will last – as much of it could still be pent-up demand that may run out of steam – but it said it had seen ‘clear evidence of increased transactions in the market’. 

Cheerful shareholders sent the company’s stock up 5 per cent, or 5.5p, to 106.5p by the close. Elsewhere, Gulf Keystone Petroleum said its chief executive, Jon Ferrier, is preparing to retire after five years at the helm of the Kurdistan-focused oil group. Ferrier, who will wait until a successor has been found before he leaves, restructured the company’s debt to keep it going when he joined. Shares rose 0.2 per cent, or 0.2p, to 90.4p. 

Over on AIM, IT company Redcentric rocketed after announcing its former bosses will appear in court in August charged with misleading investors. 

As the Financial Conduct Authority concluded its investigation into the company’s finances, it revealed three former employees would be prosecuted. The FCA found 

Redcentric issued half-year and full-year financial results which misstated its debt pile and overstated its assets. Redcentric has agreed to compensate any investors who bought shares during that time, up to £11.4m, though the FCA believes Redcentric shareholders lost around £43m. Stock climbed 25.5 per cent, or 26p, to 128p.