Tata Motors Q1 net down 23% at Rs1,726 crore

Tata Motors, India's biggest manufacturer of trucks and buses, has reported a consolidated net profit of Rs1,726 crore for the first quarter of the current financial year (April-June 2013-14), a 23 per cent fall from the Rs2,245 crore net profit reported in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Tata Motors said the third straight decline in quarterly profit has been due mainly to lower sales at home and that higher sales of its luxury Jaguar Land Rover vehicles failed to offset sagging domestic sales.

Tata Motors said its consolidated revenues (net of excise) for the April-June 2013-14 quarter rose 8.0 per cent to Rs46,785 crore, from Rs43,324 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.

The weak operating environment in the standalone business at home was more than offset by strong demand, growth in volume sales, richer product mix and favourable foreign exchange at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), the company said.

Consolidated profit before tax (PBT) for the April-June 2013-14 quarter was lower at Rs.2,927 crore against Rs3,183 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year, Tata Motors said.

Standalone revenues (net of excise) for the quarter ended 30 June 2013 stood at Rs9,105 crore, compared to Rs10,586 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The operating margin was 2.3 per cent for the quarter ended 30 June 2013, against 7.3 per cent in the corresponding quarter last year.

Profit before tax and profit after tax for the quarter ended 30 June 2013 was Rs753 crore (after considering dividend from Jaguar Land Rover and other subsidiaries amounting to Rs1,537 crore) and Rs703 crore, respectively, against the PBT and PAT of Rs237 crore (after considering dividend from subsidiaries amounting to Rs253 crore) and Rs205 crore, respectively, for the corresponding quarter last year.
 
Sales (including exports) of commercial and passenger vehicles for the quarter ended 30 June 2013 stood at 1,54,352 units, a decline of 19 per cent compared to the corresponding quarter last year.

Tata Motors said weak macro-economic environment at home and competitive pressures on pricing, continued to impact the operations during the quarter.

JLR sales – both wholesale and retail - for the quarter ended 30 June 2013, grew 8.6 per cent and 10.4 per cent over corresponding period last year to 90,620 units and 94,719 units, respectively.

Jaguar sales volume grew 57.8 per cent and 28 per cent, respectively, to 18,577 units and 17,459 units, respectively, as against 11,774 units and 13,638 units, respectively, in the corresponding quarter last year.

The All-New Range Rover continued to be in good demand and Tata Motors is now planning for the All-New Range Rover Sport, to be launched in the coming months.

Land Rover volumes – both wholesales and retail - stood at 72,043 units and 77,260 units, respectively, showing a growth of 0.5 per cent and 7.1 per cent over the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Revenues for the quarter ended 30 June 2013 grew 12.6 per cent to £4,097 million against revenues of £3,638 million during the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Operating profit for the quarter stood at £675 million pounds, up 28.1 per cent over the corresponding quarter last year while operating margin stood at 16.5 per cent, reflecting wholesale volume increase, favourable exchange rate, richer product mix supported by launch of All-New Range Rover and F-TYPE, the company said.

Profit before tax for the quarter grew 24.6 per cent over the corresponding quarter last year to £415 million pounds (£333 million in the corresponding quarter last year) due to higher operating profit, which was partially offset by higher depreciation and amortisation as well as higher finance expense, net of more favourable exchange revaluation.

Profit after tax for the quarter rose 28.8 per cent to £304 million pounds during the quarter from £236 million pounds in the corresponding quarter last year.