Tata Motors slips 2% ahead of Q2 results; here's what brokerges expect

Shares of Tata Motors slipped over 2 per cent on the BSE in the morning deals on Friday ahead of its September quarter results, due later in the day. At 10:24 am, the stock was trading at 131 apiece on the BSE, down 1.76 per cent against a 0.05 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. 

The auto major is expected to post subdued numbers for the quarter under review as as tough business conditions prevailed in all key geographies and market segments. The company is seen reporting 13 per cent decline in net sales to Rs 62,467 crore on the back of 45 per cent drop in standalone volumes to 1.05 lakh units, flat YoY JLR volumes at 1.3 lakh units and unfavourable currency movement.

According to analysts at ICICI Securities, consolidated loss at the PAT level is estimated at Rs 843 crore. "Progress on the company's cost savings programme as well as free cash flow (FCF) generation at JLR remains a key monitorable for Tata Motors," they wrote in a results preview note.

In the year-ago period, Tata Motors had posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 1,009 crore, mainly due to a weak performance by its British arm Jaguar Land Rover (JLR). 

Sharekhan estimates the company's loss for the July-September 2019 period at Rs 1,476 crore. Consolidated revenues are expected to decline marginally by 3 per cent YoY. JLR revenues likely to grow 4 per cent while that of the Indian operations expected to drop 47 per cent YoY, the brokerage firm said in its report. 

Further, "operating margins are expected to contract 400 bps YoY as OPM's at Jaguar Land Rover likely to reduce 210 bps. The standalone margins are expected to fall 680 bps YoY following negative operating leverage. EBITDA (Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation) is expected to decline sharply by 44 per cent," it wrote. 

During the three-month period between July adn September 2019, shares of Tata Motors have underperformed the market by falling around 28 per cent as compared to over 2.50 per cent decline in the Nifty50 index. The Nifty Auto index, on the other hand, has slipped 5.50 per cent, ACE Equity data shows.