July 29 (Reuters) - Aston Martin's second-quarter loss was worse than market expectations on Wednesday, underscoring the scale of the challenges the luxury carmaker faces as it banks on sales of its Valhalla hybrid supercar and cost cuts to drive a turnaround.
The more-than-a-century old British carmaker has been struggling with U.S. tariffs and taxes on luxury cars in its major market, China, along with liquidity issues. It has relied on cost-cutting initiatives and funding from lenders to contend
with tough market conditions.
Last week, Aston Martin agreed to £550 million ($731.34 million) in debt funding from BlackRock-owned HPS Investment Partners and has secured over £600 million from its top shareholder and chair Lawrence Stroll since he took control.
One relative bright spot has been the Valhalla plug-in hybrid supercar. Aston Martin sold 220 units in the six months ended June 30 and said it expects deliveries to increase further in the second half of the year.
The company's second-quarter adjusted operating loss narrowed to £52 million from £57 million last year, but was still worse than consensus of £45 million in losses in a company-provided poll.
Aston Martin, known as fictional secret agent James Bond's choice of car, retained its annual forecast despite flagging tough market conditions for the automotive industry as the Iran war pressures global energy prices and supply chains and depresses sentiment.
The company said the conflict had only a limited direct impact on its business in the first half of 2026 and that it continued to monitor the situation and its potential effects on global demand, customer confidence and supply chains, with the Middle East an important market for bespoke luxury vehicle sales.
($1 = 0.7520 pounds)
(Reporting by Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Louise Heavens)
