Tata Motors MD Ravi Kant (right) with chief financial officer C. Ramakrishnan in Mumbai on Wednesday. (Fotocorp)

Mumbai, Oct. 31: Tata Motors has posted a 19 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 526.84 crore for the second quarter ended September 30 compared with Rs 441.72 crore in the corresponding period last year.

This growth in bottomline beats analysts’ estimates.

The company, however, reported only a marginal rise in its topline.

On a stand-alone basis, the company’s revenues (net of excise) rose 1.33 per cent to Rs 6,672.65 crore for the quarter compared with Rs 6,585.20 crore in the year-ago period. On a consolidated basis, the net profit was Rs 570.71 crore against Rs 536.44 crore last year.

The company’s margins came under pressure because of rising input costs, excess competition and high interest rates. The demand for commercial and passenger vehicles declined during the period.

Tata Motors said it had taken up a multi-pronged strategy to combat the challenge. These include cutting down the cost of production and introducing new models.

During the first half of the year, revenues (net of excise) on a stand-alone basis grew 3.20 per cent to Rs 12,729.47 crore compared with Rs 12,334.76 crore in the same period last year.