Tata Motors posts loss of Rs.430 crore in Q2

Carmaker Tata Motors on Friday posted a net loss of Rs.430 crore for the second quarter of 2015-16, primarily on account of weaker sales in China, foreign exchange revaluation and higher depreciation and amortization expenses in the Jaguar Land Rover business.

The net consolidated profit stood at Rs. 3,291 crore during the same quarter of the last fiscal year.

With good sales in Britain, Europe and North America helping the company to balance weak sales in China and a growth in the medium-heavy commercial vehicles, it reported consolidated revenues (net of excise) of Rs.61,318 crore as against Rs.60,641 crore for the corresponding quarter last year.

Exceptional items for the quarter includes a charge of Rs.2,493 crore in the Jaguar Land Rover businesson account of the vehicles damaged at Tianjin Port explosion.

"The process for finalizing an insurance claim may take some months to conclude, so insurance and other potential recoveries will only be recognized in future period when paid or confirmed and have not been recognized in this period," the company said in a statement.

For the half-year ended September 30, 2015, the consolidated revenue (net of excise) stood at Rs.1,22,620 crore as against Rs.1,25,169 crore for the corresponding period last year.

In the commercial vehicles segment, medium-heavy vehicles registered a volume growth of 35.3 percent and a revenue growth by 20 percent during the quarter under review on the back of the continued replacement demand, moderate pre buying and better profitability of the freight operators.

However, light commercial vehicle sales continued to remain weak in the quarter, due to the constrained financing environment and lack of last mile load availability.

In the passenger vehicles segment, domestic sales grew 5.2 percent during the July-September quarter as compared to the similar quarter of 2014-15 with the car segment growing by 14.8 percent.

The sales (including exports) of commercial and passenger vehicles for the quarter ended September 30 stood at 1,26,690 units showing a decline of 0.4 percent as compared to the corresponding quarter last year.

On a standalone basis, the net revenue during the quarter ended September 30 stood at Rs.10,501 crore as compared to Rs.8,752 crore for the corresponding quarter last year.

The standalone loss during the quarter was registered at Rs.287 crore as against a loss of Rs.1,107 crore in the year ago period.

Retail unit sales of the Jaguar-Land Rover division stood at 110,200 vehicles which earned the company a revenue of 4,831 million pounds as against 4,808 million pounds for the corresponding quarter last year.

The division reported a net loss of 92 million pounds during the quarter as against the net profit of 450 million pounds in the corresponding quarter last year.