Tata Motors Group reports Rs 3,680 cr Q1 net loss

Automobile major Tata Motors Group on Thursday reported a net loss of Rs 3,679.66 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2019. It had posted a Rs 1,862.57 crore net loss for the corresponding period of the previous financial year.

Tata Motors Group's revenue for Q1FY20 declined to Rs 60,830.16 crore from Rs 65,956.78 crore reported for Q1FY19.

According to the group, financial performance during the quarter under review reflects the historical seasonality and continued challenging market conditions globally.

On Jaguar Land Rover, it said, "The performance reflects the impact of seasonality in the backdrop of weak markets. Project Charge is on track to achieve £2.5 billion profit and cash improvements by the end of the year. With China stabilising and an exciting product lineup, JLR expects to return to growth soon and its financial results to improve over the balance of the year."

JLR reported a year-on-year 11.6 per cent decline in global retail sales to 128,615 vehicles for the quarter.

The company reported a pre-tax loss of £395 million compared with £264 million loss in the same period a year ago, on quarterly revenues that declined by 2.8 per cent year-on-year to £5.1 billion.

On standalone basis, Tata Motors (including joint operations) reported subdued quarterly numbers. Net loss in Q1FY20 stood at Rs 97.10 crore from Rs 1,187.65 crore reported for Q1FY19.

Besides, the company's revenue for the quarter decreased 19.9 per cent to Rs 13,352 crore.

In Q1FY20, the company's total wholesales (including joint operations) declined 22.7 per cent to 136,705 units due to demand slowdown, higher axle load, liquidity stress and low freight availability for cargo operators.

"The continued slowdown across the auto industry due to weak consumer sentiments, liquidity stress and the impact of axle load effect, particularly in medium or heavy duty, impacted overall demand," said Guenter Butschek, CEO and MD, Tata Motors.

"Over the past few years we had struck a good balance between managing market dynamics and financial health. However, this time, despite our continuous turnaround efforts, we could not prevent some impact on our Q1 performance," Butschek said.

Looking ahead, Butschek said, both "our businesses, CV and PV, will leverage Tata Motors' revived agility and strive to boost consumers' confidence by various market interventions allround from best in class product offerings, retail activations and further improved service experience."

"With the budget announcement and upcoming festive season, we expect some tailwinds for the remaining FY20. Furthermore, our turnaround actions are in full swing and will provide us a great level of confidence to master this unprecedented market challenge and we will get out of it even stronger," Butschek said.

( With inputs from IANS )