McLaren Group, the British supercar maker and Formula One team-backer, has given lenders signs of an improvement in its financial performance even after a £375m impairment charge propelled it to a record loss last year.
Sky News has learnt that McLaren has told bondholders that it made losses of £873m in the 12 months ending 31 December.
The Woking-based company’s financial travails reflected an ongoing financial restructuring that was completed earlier this year.
Mumtalakat, Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, has taken full ownership of the group, and is now engaged in talks about technology partnerships which could lead to the sale of a minority equity stake in McLaren.
According to the results, which have not yet been released publicly, it recorded a £375m non-cash impairment charge to reflect asset writedowns relating to production problems.
In the first quarter of the 2024 financial year, however, McLaren reported its best quarter for nearly five years, with an underlying profit of £3m on revenues which rose by 52%.
Responding to an enquiry from Sky News, McLaren said its start to the year reflected a 28% increase in wholesale volumes with its 750S model sold out into 2025 and orders for the GTS ahead of expectations.
Paul Walsh, McLaren’s executive chairman, said: “These results demonstrate the strong fundamentals in our business, where demand for our iconic high-performance luxury sports cars exceeds supply, and where our outlook is improving following major transformation actions over the past year.
“We can look forward to a bright future with a simplified shareholder structure, a clean balance sheet and significant opportunities to forge partnerships to drive future growth.”
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In an attempt to drive sales growth, McLaren has expanded its retail network with the opening dealerships in Australia, Japan and the brand’s largest showroom in Dubai.
McLaren, whose road car models also include the Artura Spider, P1 and Senna, has seen some of its former shareholders taking warrants which would benefit from a future ‘liquidity event’ such as an initial public offering or sale of the company.
McLaren Racing, the division which directly houses the F1 and other racing operations, has its own external shareholders following a deal struck during the pandemic.
Simplifying its structure should pave the way for a technology partnership with an automotive original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in the coming years as McLaren transitions towards becoming a hybrid and electric vehicle company.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company was forced into a far-reaching restructuring that saw hundreds of jobs axed and substantial sums raised in equity and debt to repair its balance sheet.
Its finances became so strained that it repeatedly tapped Mumtalakat for new funding, as well as striking a sale-and-leaseback deal for its spectacular Surrey headquarters.
In 2021, it also sold McLaren Applied Technologies, which generates revenue from sales to corporate customers.
Founded in 1963 by Bruce McLaren, the group’s name is among the most famous in British motorsport.
During half a century of competing in F1, it has won the constructors’ championship eight times, while its drivers have included the likes of Mika Hakkinen, Lewis Hamilton, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna.
In total, the team has 180 Grand Prix wins, three Indianapolis 500s and won the Le Mans 24 Hours on its debut.
The company saw its separate divisions reunited following the departure in 2017 of Ron Dennis, the veteran McLaren boss who had steered its F1 team through the most successful period in its history.
Bosses at Revolut, Britain’s biggest fintech, are drawing up plans to allow employees to cash in with a sale of stock valued at hundreds of millions of pounds.
Sky News has learnt that the banking and payments services provider is lining up investment bankers to coordinate a secondary share sale worth in the region of $500m (£394m).
Morgan Stanley, the Wall Street bank, is expected to be engaged to work on the proposed stock offering, which will take place later this year.
City sources said this weekend that Nik Storonsky, Revolut’s co-founder and chief executive, was determined to seek a valuation of at least the $33bn (£26bn) it secured in a primary funding round in 2021.
“This will not be a down-round,” said one person familiar with Revolut’s thinking.
Although the fintech, which has more than 40 million customers, is not planning to raise new capital as part of the transaction, any sizeable share sale will still be closely watched across the global fintech sector.
It is expected to be restricted to company employees.
Revolut ranks among the world’s largest financial technology businesses, with revenue virtually doubling last year to around £1.7bn, according to figures expected to be published in the coming months.
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Founded in 2015, it has experienced a string of regulatory and compliance challenges, with reports last year highlighting its release of funds from accounts flagged by the National Crime Agency as suspicious.
The company’s growth has taken place at breakneck speed, with customer numbers soaring from 16.4m at the point of the Series E fundraising nearly three years ago.
Insiders argued that despite the protracted downturn in tech valuations over the last two years, Revolut’s relentless expansion would easily justify it maintaining its status as Britain’s most valuable fintech.
Monzo, the UK-based digital bank, recently confirmed a Sky News story that it had closed a funding round worth nearly £500m, including backing from an arm of Google’s owner, Alphabet, and a Singaporean sovereign wealth fund.
Elsewhere, however, the funding landscape has been bleaker, with a growing number of tech companies which had attracted unicorn valuations of more than $1bn now struggling to stay afloat.
Revolut has allotted stock options to many of its 10,000 employees as part of their compensation packages, although it was unclear how many would be eligible to dispose of equity in the transaction later this year.
A source close to the company said it had had numerous expressions of interest from prospective investors.
Revolut’s current shareholders include SoftBank’s Vision Fund and Tiger Global.
News of the proposed share sale comes as Revolut’s investors continue to await positive news about its application for a UK banking licence.
The company applied to regulators to become a bank in Britain more than three years ago, but has so far failed to secure approval.
Mr Storonsky has been publicly critical of the delay, and last year questioned the approach of British regulators and politicians, as he suggested that he would not contemplate a listing on the London Stock Exchange.
An initial public offering of Revolut appears to still be some way off, although it would not surprise investors or industry peers if it initiated a listing process in the next couple of years.
One person close to Revolut said board members were among those expected to participate in the secondary share sale, although further details were unclear this weekend.
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The company is chaired by Martin Gilbert, the City veteran who has faced governance and performance challenges at Assetco, the London-listed asset manager he runs.
Its other directors include Michael Sherwood, the former Goldman Sachs executive who was jointly responsible for its operations outside the US and who was regarded as one of the most skilled traders of his generation.
An external shareholder in the company said the exclusion of non-employees from the deal could draw criticism from some investors.
Revolut has conducted secondary share sales of this kind in the past, including after its 2021 Series E round.
A former Post Office executive has said she was forced to block ex-boss Paula Vennells’ phone number after the ex-CEO called multiple times asking for help to avoid an independent inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal.
Lesley Sewell, previously the company’s head of IT, told the Post Office inquiry on Thursday that former CEO Ms Vennells had reached out to her four times between 2020 and 2021.
Ms Sewell said that she blocked Ms Vennells’ number due to discomfort with the contact.
In her witness statement to the probe, Ms Sewell said that one of Ms Vennells’ emails referenced the need to fill in memory gaps regarding Horizon and “Project Sparrow”, a committee addressing issues with forensic accountants who identified flaws in the accounting system.
“Paula contacted me on four occasions in total. I recall blocking her number after the last call as I did not feel comfortable with her contacting me,” Ms Sewell said.
“I had not spoken to Paula since I had left POL [Post Office Limited] in 2015.”
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According to Ms Sewell’s testimony, former chief executive Ms Vennells said that she had “been asked at short notice” to appear before a parliamentary select committee on “all things Horizon/Sparrow and need to plug some memory gaps”.
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Ms Sewell says Ms Vennells added: “My hope is this might help avoid an independent inquiry but to do so, I need to be well prepared.”
Ms Sewell, who struggled to contain her emotions and broke down in tears while giving her oath at the start of her inquiry evidence, was offered support and breaks as needed by chairman Sir Wyn Williams.
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Sir Wyn told the former executive: “Ms Sewell, I appreciate this may be upsetting for you, Ms Price will ask you a number of questions in a proper and sensible manner, but if at any time you feel you need a break, just let me know, all right?”
The Post Office has faced significant scrutiny following the ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office which highlighted the Horizon IT scandal.
The faulty system led to the prosecution of more than 700 sub-postmasters between 1999 and 2015, with many still awaiting full compensation despite government announcements regarding payouts for those with quashed convictions.
London City Airport will on Thursday name its first permanent female chief executive as it targets approval of an expansion plan that would create nearly 1,500 jobs.
Sky News understands that the Docklands airport has told staff that Alison FitzGerald, who has been co-CEO since January alongside finance chief Wilma Allan, has landed the role.
She replaces Robert Sinclair, who left in January after six years to become boss of the High Speed 1 rail link.
The airport is owned by a consortium of Canadian pension funds and Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund, which have backed a plan to increase its annual passenger traffic from about 6.5m to 9m.
It is appealing against Newham Council’s rejection of a planning application that would see it extend operating hours at the site, which is popular with City commuters.
The airport’s proposals include no increase in the annual number of flights and, in what it claims is a first for a UK airport, a commitment that only cleaner, quieter, new generation aircraft will be allowed to fly in any extended periods.
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The appeal is being reviewed by the Independent Planning Inspector.
Its change of leadership makes London City the second of the capital’s airports to name a new CEO in quick succession, following the arrival at Heathrow of Thomas Woldbye last year.
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“London City delivers one of the best passenger experiences in the UK and I’m committed to building on this success even further,” Ms FitzGerald said.