Tata Motors Q1 loss doubles to Rs 3,680 crore as JLR woes continue

NEW DELHI: Homegrown auto major Tata Motors on Thursday said its losses doubled to Rs 3,679.66 crore in the June quarter against a loss of Rs 1,862.57 crore last year. Analysts in an ETNOW poll had projected a hit of Rs 1,890 crore.

The firm’s British luxury arm Jaguar Land Rover posted a pre-tax loss of 395 million pounds.

The group’s overall revenue came in at Rs 60,830.16 crore, lower than Rs 65,956.78 crore in the same quarter last year. The sales number, however, was higher than ET NOW poll estimate of Rs 57,500 crore.


Consolidated Ebitda margins fell 130 basis points to 6.2 per cent.

“The group’s financial performance reflects the historical seasonality and continued challenging market conditions globally,” the company said in a regulatory filing.

Guenter Butschek, CEO and MD of Tata Motors said that the continued slowdown across the auto industry due to weak consumer sentiment, liquidity stress and the impact of axle load effect particularly in medium and heavy-duty segment, impacted overall demand.

Luxury unit JLR’s June quarter pre-tax loss of 395 million pounds compared with 264 million pounds hit a year ago. The arm’s quarterly revenues declined 2.8 per cent year-on-year to 5.1 billion pounds.

On JLR’s performance, the company said: "Project Charge is on track to achieve 2.5 billion pounds of profit and cash improvements by the end of the year. With China stabilising and an exciting product lineup, JLR expects to return to growth soon and its financial results to improve over the balance of the year."

JLR also reiterated that financial results will improve over the balance of the year as it targeted a 3-4 per cent Ebit margin for the full year with continued investment resulting in negative, but improving cash flows.

The unit’s retail sales for the quarter stood at 1,28,615 units with good demand for Jaguar I-PACE and new Range Rover Evoque.

JLR Chief Executive Ralf Speth said: "Despite challenging conditions in the first quarter, Jaguar Land Rover is creating a more robust and resilient business, in which we will continue to deliver a strong pipeline of products that our customers will love. Break through products such as the exciting all new Land Rover Defender will pave the way for sustainable profitable growth"

On the overall group, Tata Motors said its finance costs jumped by Rs 336 crore to Rs 1,712 crore, which included Rs 112 crore on account of lease liability accounting.

The company said the net automotive debt, which was Rs 46,500 crore, reflected the cumulative negative free cash flow.