Tata Motors Q4 net down 50% at Rs2,176 crore

Tata Motors said the fall in the bottom line was primarily due to a Rs1,641.38-crore impairment of capital work in progress.

Revenue from operations grew 16 per cent year-on-year to Rs91,279.09 crore during the quarter while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were up 3.7 per cent at Rs11,250 crore.

EBITDA margin for the quarter contracted to 12.3 per cent from 14 per cent in the previous year quarter.

"FY18 has been a hallmark year for Tata Motors with record-breaking sales performance, increase in market share, and the standalone business turning profitable before one-time exceptional charges," said Guenter Butschek, managing director and chief executive officer, Tata Motors.

For the January-March 2018 quarter, the company's luxury-car subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover saw its sales decline 4 per cent to 172,709 units. The fall was primarily due to lower UK sales, and in Europe as a whole. UK industry sales were down 12.4 per cent, mainly due to lower sales of diesel vehicles.

Jaguar Land Rover's revenue for the quarter ended March came in at 7,555 million pounds, 4 per cent higher than in the same quarter last year. Its pre-tax profit, however, fell 46 per cent over the period to 364 million pounds.

Tata Motors' standalone sales posted a solid jump of 36 per cent to 204,255 units in the fourth quarter, as against 150,448 units in the same period last year. Domestic sales were up 39 per cent at 187,874 units from 135,416 units.

"We want to structurally improve the business with reinforced and focused actions in passenger vehicles, and continuing the momentum in commercial vehicles from last year. Our future pipeline is full of attractive products, bundled in the most desirable and customer-centric service offerings," Butschek said.

Tata Motors' net profit from joint ventures and associates for the quarter stood at Rs845 crore, up from Rs411 crore in the same quarter last year. Higher interest income resulted in other income growing 55.5 per cent on year to Rs364 crore.

The company's finance cost for the quarter increased marginally to Rs1,178 crore, primarily due to an increase in both Tata Motors' and JLR's borrowings. Tata Motors' consolidated debt rose to Rs39,977 crore as of 31 March 2018, from Rs27,485 crore at the end of March last year.

In a statement issued after announcing the results, Tata Motors said its effective tax rate for FY18 was 32.3 per cent, largely because of tax credits in the standalone business not getting recognised and because of a one-time impact due to lower tax rates on deferred tax assets in the UK and US.