Tata Motors consolidated net loss narrowed to ₹216 crore during the second quarter of the current fiscal year, from the year-ago period’s net loss of ₹1,048 crore.

The company’s total revenue from operations was ₹65,431.95 crore (₹71,981.08 crore), down 9.09 per cent.

The Board of Directors of TML approved a preferential allotment of ordinary shares and warrants to the promoter, Tata Sons, for an aggregate consideration of around ₹6,500 crore subject to shareholder approval, the company said.

While Jaguar Land Rover’s performance improved, the market slowdown impacted India business.

The benefits from the recovery in China and Project Charge, the restructuring programme that began earlier this fiscal, has been offset by decline in the M&HCV (medium and heavy commercial vehicle) and the stock reduction in India, it added.

Weak sentiment

“The industry has been grappling with a long and sharp slowdown. Growth continues to be impacted by subdued demand, higher capacity from the new axle load norms, liquidity stress, low freight availability, weak consumer sentiment and general economic slowdown. The sharp market decline over the last few months has impacted our Q2 performance as well which is disappointing,” said Guenter Butschek, CEO and MD, Tata Motors.

The performance in this quarter has been fundamentally highlighted by the turnaround in JLR and the performance delivering a significant improvement from what it was before, said PB Balaji, Group CFO, Tata Motors Ltd, while adding that at the same time, the company was privy to a sharp market decline in India.

Jaguar Land Rover improved its performance this quarter and delivered a well-rounded performance, the company said. “In particular, the improvement in China on the back of better operational metrics is reassuring. Project Charge is well ahead of plans and has delivered £2.28 so far. The product offensive continued with the launch of the New Defender which has received an excellent response,” it said.

For the financial year ending 31 March 2020, Jaguar Land Rover continues to expect year-on-year improvement and to target a 3-4 per cent EBIT margin with cash flow increased over last year, it added.

Butschek said with the onset of festival season, it is seeing initial green shoots this month with better retail sales in passenger vehicles.

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