Tata Motors June quarter net profit jumps 41.54 per cent to Rs 3,182 cr on JLR's pension plans

Indian auto major Tata Motors on Wednesday reported 41.54 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 3,199.93 crore for the June quarter of the current fiscal, benefiting from one-time gain relating to changes made to JLR pension plans.

The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,260.4 crore in the April-June period of last fiscal, Tata Motors said in a BSE filing. Income from operations during the period under review stood at Rs 59,818.22 crore, as against Rs 66,165.89 crore in the year-ago period, down 9.59 per cent.

"Consolidated profit before tax for the quarter includes one-time gain of Rs 3,609 crore (437 million pound) relating to the changes made to the Jaguar Land Rover pension plans," Tata Motors said.

Volume sales, including exports of commercial and passenger vehicles for the quarter stood at 1,11,860 units, down 11.8 per cent when compared to the corresponding quarter last year, it said.

Tata Motors said its operating performance broadly reflected JLR's lower wholesale volumes excluding China JV and continuation of higher competitive incentive levels and launch and growth costs seen in FY17.

In the domestic market, there has been significant de- growth in the medium and heavy commercial vehicles segment, flat light commercial segment and moderate growth in passenger vehicles segment. Tata Motors MD & CEO Guenter Butschek said: "While the first quarter results have not met our expectations, we are working with renewed focus and energy to improve performance of our commercial and passenger vehicle businesses."

On a standalone basis, Tata Motors posted loss of Rs 467.05 crore for the June quarter of 2017-18 fiscal. It had registered a profit of Rs 25.75 crore in the same period of 2016-17. Total income from operations on a standalone basis during the quarter was at Rs 10,375.32 crore as compared to Rs 11,434.91 crore in the year-ago period, down 9.26 per cent.

British arm JLR reported a revenue of 5.6 billion pounds, up 244 million pounds. JLR's profit before tax was 595 million pounds, up from 399 million pounds in the year-ago period.

This included a 437 million pounds one-off credit relating to recent changes designed to improve the sustainability of the company's defined benefit pension plans,Tata Motors said. JLR retail sales for the quarter was at 137,463 units, up 3.5 per cent from the year-ago period. Jaguar Land Rover Chief Executive Officer Ralf Speth said: "We continue to deliver rising volumes and revenues across the business, reflecting strong demand for new models such as the Range Rover Velar and established global award winners such as Jaguar F-PACE."