Tata Motors, owner of British luxury car brand Jaguar Land Rover, on Tuesday reported a consolidated loss of Rs 314.5 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2020, impacted by low demand in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company had posted net loss of Rs 216.56 crore in the year-ago period and Rs 8,437.99 crore in the June quarter of the current fiscal.
The consolidated revenue dropped by 18.2 per cent to Rs 53,530 crore in Q2 FY21 as against Rs 65,431.95 crore in Q2 FY20, dented by fall in commercial vehicle and JLR volumes.
For the quarter, net profit from joint ventures and associates stood at Rs 36 crore, compared to loss of Rs 363 crore in the prior year. Other income (excluding grants) during the period under review was Rs 189 crore versus Rs 199 crore in the same period last year.
Tata Motors' British subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) returned to profit in September quarter with significant positive cash flow in the quarter as sales and revenue recovered from the impact of COVID-19 in Q1 FY21 but remain below pre-COVID levels a year ago. It reported revenue at 4.4 billion pound, up 52.2 per cent from Q1 FY21, but down 28.5 per cent from a year ago period. It generated a 65 million pound profit before tax (PBT) in the second quarter up significantly from a loss of 413 million pound in the prior quarter but lower than the pre-Covid PBT of 156 million pound a year ago.
JLR's retail sales stood at 113,569 units, up 53.3 per cent Q-o-Q with almost all retailers now open. However, retail sales in most markets continued to remain impacted by COVID-19 and so were down 11.9 per cent in total year-on-year. China sales, however, were encouraging, up 14.6 per cent on the prior quarter and 3.7 per cent year-on-year.
Going forward, the company expects a gradual recovery of demand and supply in the coming months despite concerns around risk of second wave of infection in many countries and other geopolitical risks.
"In this context, we are committed to achieving near zero net automotive debt in the coming years by focusing on better front-end activations of our exciting product range and executing our cost and cash savings with rigour," Tata Motors said.
Tata Motors said that its passenger vehicle (PV) segment continued its strong growth momentum in the quarter and commercial vehicle (CV) witnessed gradual improvement across the segments. The PV segment achieved EBITDA breakeven led by strong customer pull for its 'NEW FOREVER' range, while CV profitability improved sequentially but continues to be impacted by lower volumes and adverse mix on a Y-o-Y basis, it said.
The auto major said that the business generated strong positive free cash flows led by the cash savings initiatives which yielded Rs 1,500 crore in the quarter and Rs 2,500 crore year to date.
Ahead of Q2 results, shares of Tata Motors ended day's trade at Rs 135.70, up 1.53 per cent, against previous closing price of Rs 133.65 on the BSE.
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