Tata Motors slumps on weak Chinese outlook

Shares of Tata Motors crashed 9.53% to Rs 112 at 14:54 IST after China's Geely posted 40% slump in first-half profit.

Shares of Tata Motors came under bear clutch after China's Geely Automobile Holdings on Wednesday said first-half net profit declined 40% amid a sustained downturn in the world's biggest auto market, and it forecast an uncertain outlook for vehicle demand for the rest of the year. The group is China's highest profile car maker globally, due to its investments in Volvo and Daimler.

China is a big market for Tata Motors. On the BSE, 40.82 lakh shares were traded in the Tata Motors counter so far compared with average daily volumes of 24.74 lakh shares in the past two weeks. The stock hit a high of Rs 123.5 in intraday trade. The stock hit a low of Rs 109.55 so far during the day, which is also 52-week low for the counter. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 282 on 10 Sep 2018.

The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month, down 21.00% compared with 1.85% fall in the Sensex. The scrip underperformed the market in past one quarter, down 34.84% as against Sensex's 5.14% fall. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one year, down 54.07% as against Sensex's 2.48% fall.

CARE Ratings Credit Research on Monday, 19 August 2019, downgraded the credit rating of the auto maker to AA-/negative from AA/stable while the short term rating was kept unchanged at A1+. The ratings factored in the subdued operating performance reported by its key subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC (JLR) for FY19 and Q1FY20.

Last week, CRISIL Ratings also downgraded the credit rating of the company citing weakening of outlook on the business risk profile of JLR.

Meanwhile, with respect to a news item titled "Tata Motors to shut Jamshedpur plant for third time this month", Tata Motors yesterday clarified that external environment remains challenging, leading to demand contraction. The company has accordingly aligned its production to actual demand and adjusted the number of shifts and contractual manpower.

On a consolidated basis, the auto maker had reported a net loss of Rs 3604.30 crore in Q1 June 2019 over a net loss of Rs 1902.37 crore in Q1 June 2018. Net sales fell 7.8% to Rs 60830.16 crore in Q1 June 2019 over Q1 June 2018.

Tata Motors is a leading global automobile manufacturer of cars, utility vehicles, buses, trucks and defense vehicles.

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