Tata Motors Q2 loss narrows to ₹898 crore

Company to voluntarily delist ADS from New York Stock Exchange

Tata Motors Ltd. said second quarter consolidated net loss narrowed to ₹898.35 crore on account of volume and margin expansion at the Jaguar Land Rover unit, as well as domestic business units. The company had recorded a loss of ₹4,415.54 crore a year earlier.

Total revenue from operations for the quarter ended September 30 increased 29.7% to ₹79,611 crore. JLR revenue grew 36% to £5.3 billion, reflecting ‘strong model mix and pricing’ with wholesale volumes (excluding China JV) of 75,307 up 17.6%, the company said in a statement.

“The wholesale increase was lower than planned, primarily due to a lower-than-expected supply of specialised chips from one supplier which could not be readily re-sourced in the quarter,” P.B. Balaji, chief financial officer, Tata Motors Group, said while flagging this as one of the disappointments during the quarter.

“However, we do expect to see improved performance at JLR, the Commercial Vehicle (CV) and Passenger Vehicle (PV) units during the third and the fourth quarters,” he said.

The CV business registered 15% growth in sales. In India, domestic wholesales climbed 19% to 93,651 vehicles. However, exports were lower by 22% affected by the financial crisis in a few export markets. Domestic retails grew at a higher rate.

“The margin improvement was aided by higher volumes, realisations, although impacted by residual commodity inflation and foreign exchange,” Mr Balaji said.

The PV business continued its ‘strong’ momentum with wholesales growing 69% to 142,755 vehicles, amid strong festival demand and ‘debottlenecking actions’.