Asset write-downs in Jaguar Land Rover weighed heavily on Tata Motors which reported a consolidated loss of ₹7,605 crore in the fourth quarter-ended March 31, 2021, compared to a loss of ₹9,894 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The auto maker had reported a profit of ₹2,906 crore in the December 2020 quarter.
Exceptional charge of nearly ₹15,000 crore was recognised under Jaguar Land Rover, including asset write-downs of £951.83 mllllon (₹ 9,606 crore) on models cancelled and restructuring costs of £533.88 million (₹ 5,388 crore). JLR also reported a pre-tax loss of £952 million for the quarter and pre-tax loss of £861 million for the full year, besides an impairment charge of ₹ 1,418 crore for the year ended March 31, 2020.
The company’s consolidated revenue from operations grew by 41.8 per cent year-on-year to ₹88,627.9 crore in Q4FY21. On a standalone basis, Tata Motors reported a net profit of ₹1,646 crore as against a loss of ₹4,871 crore in the year-ago period.
Lockdowns, chips shortage
The company said the supply situation over the next few months is likely to be affected by disruptions from Covid lockdowns in India and semi-conductor shortages worldwide. “We expect Q1 FY22 to be relatively weak due to this as well as rising commodity inflation and expect to improve gradually from the second quarter,” the company said in a statement.
For FY22, Jaguar Land Rover is still targeting an EBIT margin of at least 4 per cent and break-even free cash flow after £2.5 billion of investment and £0.5 billion of restructuring costs that have already been accrued.
Thierry Bolloré, Jaguar Land Rover Chief Executive Officer, said, “ Our strategy is ambitious, and it will make us more agile, efficient and sustainable. Although it is still early days, we have made significant progress in implementing it. This has reaffirmed my confidence that we have the right strategy, the right people and the right product-plans to deliver against our targets..”
Tata Motors said sequential improvement in overall performance is expected from the second quarter of FY22. The company targets to deliver over 2.5 per cent EBIT with positive free cash flows. Guenter Butschek, CEO and MD, Tata Motors, said, “The auto industry was deeply impacted by Covid-19 in FY21 but as the lockdown eased, pent-up vehicle demand resulted in steady growth.”.”
