Tata Motors Reports its Worst Quarterly Loss Since 2009
Tata Motors Ltd on Tuesday reported a surprise consolidated net loss of Rs 1,902.4 crore for the first quarter of the financial year 2018-19, in an exchange filing. For the same period last year, it had reported a net profit of Rs 3,199 crore. The reported losses are the company's worst since its Rs 2,599 crore loss in the quarter ended December 2009.
Its revenue for the April-June 2018 period was up by 14.7 percent to Rs 67,081.3 crore.
The Jaguar Land Rover, which is usually responsible for close to 90 percent of Tata Motors' revenue incurred a loss of 210 million pounds. Its sports utility vehicles F-Pacre and Discovery Sport saw a decline in sales, aiding the quarterly loss. In a statement following the financial results filing, Tata Motors chairman, N Chandrashekharan said, "JLR faced multiple challenges including temporary issues like China duty impacts as well as market issues like diesel (engine) concerns in the U.K. and Europe."
Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) was up by 9 percent to Rs 5,430 crore, and margin contracted 40 basis points on a year-on-year basis to 8.1 percent.
The shares of Tata Motors were priced 1.3 percent lower at market closing, ahead of the earnings announcement.