Rating Action:
Moody's downgrades Aston Martin Lagonda to Caa1; outlook remains negative
13 Jan 2020
London, 13 January 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service, ("Moody's") has today downgraded Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings plc's (Aston Martin Lagonda, company or AML) corporate family rating (CFR) to Caa1 from B3 and probability of default rating (PDR) to Caa1-PD from B3-PD. Concurrently, Moody's downgraded the instrument ratings of Aston Martin Capital Holdings Limited's senior secured notes to Caa1 from B3. The outlook remains negative.
"The downgrade reflects the weak profitability and low wholesale volumes in 2019 and particularly towards the end of the year", says Tobias Wagner, Vice President - Senior Analyst at Moody's. "Cash flow for the second half of 2019 was also significantly below Moody's expectations resulting in a lower starting point for liquidity as the company prepares for the critical DBX production ramp up and another year of significant investment spending."