Aston Martin has raised approximately £211 million through a combined share offering and debt issuance to bolster its financial position amid its push into electric vehicles and new product launches.

The funding round comprises £111 million from a share offering and £100 million from a senior secured notes placement.

The share offering consisted of three components: a primary institutional placing, a retail investor opportunity through the PrimaryBid platform, and a director subscription.

The company issued a total of 111,249,416 new ordinary shares at 100 pence per share, representing a 7.3% discount to the closing price of 107.90 pence on the announcement date. Of these shares, 110 million were allocated to institutional investors and company directors, raising £110 million, while retail investors subscribed for 1.25 million shares, contributing an additional £1.25 million.

The funds will be allocated to deliver Aston Martin’s strategic plans and strengthen its product offering.

The company has undertaken a comprehensive renewal of its core model range over the past 18 months, beginning with the DB12 in Q3 2023, followed by the Vantage and DBX707 in Q2 2024. The launch cycle will culminate with the delivery of the V12 flagship Vanquish by the end of 2024, a model the company hopes will refresh the portfolio.

In addition, a significant portion of the funds raised will support Aston Martin’s ambitious electrification strategy, part of a broader £2 billion investment plan scheduled between 2023 and 2027. The company will also use the proceeds to repay existing borrowings under its super senior revolving credit facility and strengthen its overall financial resilience.

This financing comes as Aston Martin faces a slowdown in demand, and investors will hope the cash injection has the desired effect. The company recently announced a reduction of approximately 1,000 units in its 2024 wholesale volumes, citing supply chain disruptions and weakened market conditions in China.

Parkmead shares jumped on Tuesday after the diversified energy group returned to profit and boosted production levels at key assets.

Parkmead Group has reported a significant turnaround in its financial performance, posting a profit after tax of £4.9 million for the year ended June 2024, compared to a £42.3 million loss in the previous year.

The independent energy group achieved this recovery through increased operational output across its portfolio and a substantial reduction in tax liabilities.

Production from the company’s Dutch assets showed notable growth, with gross production increasing to 3.3 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day, up from 3.0 thousand in 2023. This increase was driven by the successful development of the LDS-01 well and the steady performance of the Diever-02 facility following its return to production in February.

Despite the improved production figures, revenue for the period fell to £5.7 million from £14.8 million in the previous year, primarily due to lower average realised gas prices, which dropped to €34.23 per megawatt-hour from €105.73 in 2023.

“We have delivered another year of strong operational results, which has led to a healthy profit for the Group and earnings of over four pence per share,” said Parkmead’s Executive Chairman, Tom Cross.

“Parkmead continues to benefit from its balanced portfolio, and in particular its exposure to the UK renewables market which the new UK Government sees as a key area for growth.  We welcomed the removal of the de facto ban on onshore wind energy developments across England which may unlock a range of investment opportunities.”

The FTSE 100 went into reverse on Tuesday as Donald Trump trounced any hopes of softer tariffs by targeting China, Mexico and Canada with threats of tariffs on social media.

The mild optimism created by Trump’s selection of hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as his Treasury secretary pick yesterday was removed from markets on Tuesday following Trump’s social media posts, and the FTSE 100 dipped 0.2% as a result.

London’s leading index had started the session deep in the red but recovered as the session progressed.

Signs that Trump could be easing back on his election campaign rhetoric went a long way to lifting the mood in European stocks earlier this week, only for them to be dashed by Trump singling out Mexico and Canada for tariffs and reigniting fears of damaging trade wars. There will be concerns that Trump’s approach to Europe and the UK may be detrimental to the continent as a whole.

“Talk about swinging from one extreme to the other. The week started on a calm note with the nomination of Scott Bessent as US Treasury secretary, a hedge fund manager seen as a safe pair of hands and someone who might rein in Donald Trump’s more aggressive ideas, such as toning down tariffs,” said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.

“Trump was clearly having none of that, given he immediately took to social media to promise bigger than expected 25% tariffs on all products supplied from Mexico and Canada into the US, and a further 10% for Chinese goods, all on day one of his new presidency. That took the market by surprise, driving up the dollar and prompting a sell-off in the Mexican peso and Canadian dollar. The US dollar index rose by 0.2% to 107.06.”

Despite London’s flagship index giving up ground on Tuesday, several positive corporate stores helped offset the broader selling.

Compass Group share rose 2.5% on Tuesday after the group announced stellar full-year results driven by 16% underlying revenue growth and a focus on core markets.

“Contract caterer Compass Group has dished out results in line with twice upgraded guidance. Organic growth of 10.6% came from the existing customer base and a 4.3% uplift in new business, which encouragingly picked up over the second half. Compass feeds hungry mouths in global venues, from offices to student digs and football stadiums, and across these demand for outsourcing is growing, as customers seek to manage cost inflation and a labyrinth of red tape and regulation,” said Derren Nathan, head of equity research, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“That’s creating the growth opportunity, and Compass isn’t wasting it, translating the top line uplift into additional free cash flow which was up 18.7% to $2.6bn and improved operating margins. That’s providing the ingredients to snap up acquisition opportunities where it trebled expenditure to $1.3bn and a step up in dividend payments. “

After being added to JP Morgan’s ‘Positive Catalyst Watch,’ Melrose was the top gainer, with a 6% increase.

Threats of inflationary pressure from tariffs hit consumer-facing stocks heavily. Marks & Spencer fell 3%, while Kingfisher lost another 2.5%.

Halfords shares were riding high on Tuesday after the group released its first half-year results, which were punctuated with areas of optimism that shone through otherwise gloomy performance.

Group revenue was down just 0.1% in the first half of 2024 compared to 2023. Halfords faced tough comparables against last year when the company enjoyed strong growth and the flat revenue growth wasn’t a surprise.

Indeed, investors are evidently pleased that the decline in sales wasn’t more dramatic, and shares rose over 13% at the time of writing.

Autocentres’ like-for-like sales ticked marginally higher, while retail softened as consumers held off purchasing discretionary items such as cycles.

“Halfords continues to fight an uphill battle as weak consumer demand has put the brakes on growth over the first half. Marginal growth in Autocentres was offset by weakness in the Retail division, where cycling remains challenged. Price-conscious customers continued to trade down to budget ranges, and a lack of big-ticket discretionary sales has weighed on performance,” said Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Halfords is leaning into cost cuts to help soften the impact on the profit line, with the group halfway towards its £30mn savings target.”

“The group’s confident that it can meet the market’s full-year forecasts, which are looking for underlying pre-tax profits of around £29mn. With £21mn already secured in the first half, this target now looks well within reach, especially as freight costs are expected to be at the lower end of previous guidance.”

Following in the footsteps of Kingfisher yesterday, Halfords took the half-year update as an opportunity to sound the alarm on the impact of National Insurance increases and what it means for earnings in the future.

“Halfords tries to stand out from its competition by delivering expert advice and assistance to customers, face-to-face, with more than 12,000 staff on the books,” Chiekrie said.

“That means the government’s recent decision to hike employers National Insurance contribution is set to really bite, adding around £23mn of direct labour costs next year, so the group will have to pedal even harder to try and offset these additional costs.”