Higher volumes helped deliver pre-tax profits of £21.1m (NZ$37.5m), compared with a loss of £82.3m (NZ$146.5m) last time round. The average selling price is now 25pc higher at £149,000 (NZ$265,000), with a combination of the popularity of the DB11 and customers picking personalised "Q" options - a nod to Aston Martin being James Bond's vehicle of choice - across the range responsible for the rise.
During the half the company also carried out a £550m (NZ$980m) refinancing to give it the cash to invest in new products and R&D, as well as reduce the strain on its balance sheet in a deal that near-halved borrowing costs.
"In short, we've now got the money we need and are able to invest significantly in the business," the chief executive said, pointing to £96m (NZ$170m) of reinvestment, which has helped the company deliver on its plans of introducing a brand new model every 12 months.
"We're now a $1b a year company which is a nice club to be in, and it feels like we're a normal company with strong financial foundations," added chief financial officer Mark Wilson, noting that staffing has risen by a third since 2015 to 3,000 employees now, with plans to add another 1,000 over the next few years.
Aston is owned by Kuwaiti and Italian private equity funds and the newfound financial health has fuelled speculation that the business could be floated, though this was batted away by Mr Palmer as "a matter for our owners".
Sterling's fall since the EU referendum has delivered a significant boost to Aston, which exports 80pc of its cars.
"Today we are a beneficiary of Brexit and should continue to be if the pound stays low and there's a deal zero tariffs," Palmer said.
The government's recent announcement of a ban on the sale of new cars with petrol or diesel engines in 2040, was described as "absolutely meaningless" by the chief executive. "It will have no impact on us whatsoever," he said. "We will be there a decade before years before, if it had meant hybrids as well that would be different but we are already going down the fully electric route."
Vehicle production is on target for about 5,000 cars this year, with around 6,500 in 2018 and the company hitting maximum capacity of 7,000 the following year.
Aston is opening a plant at St Athan in Wales at the end of 2019 which will initially produce the marque's first SUV - the DBX - with the new site giving Aston a theoretical maximum output of 14,000 vehicles, though Mr Palmer played down production going beyond this.
The company is also developing a ultra-high performance "hypercar" - the Valkyrie - with Red Bull Racing. Aimed at reproducing the performance of a Formula 1 car, the Valkyrie is expected to be priced at between £2m and £3m with only 175 example being built.
