Aston Martin has been upgraded to CCC+ from CCC following the completion of its $184mn debt buyback and increase in cash balances by £653mn ($738.3mn) from equity financing. Using the cash proceeds, the English car manufacturer has also repaid £68.5mn ($77.4) of cash that it withdrew from its revolving credit facility. S&P notes that Aston Martin remains committed to reducing its debt levels, promising to use up to 50% of proceeds from the equity raise to repay its obligations. S&P also expects that Aston Martin will have about £500mn in cash by the end-2022, with the strengthened cash holdings serving as an important liquidity buffer to withstand any operational and economic headwinds. The rating agency also anticipates that revenues from increased sales volume will increase past £1.1bn ($1.2bn) in 2022, with EBITDA forecasted to rise above 15% in 2022, from 12.6% in 2021.
Aston Martin’s 10.5% 2025s are trading 0.12 points higher at 97.75 cents on the dollar, yielding 11.39%.
