Mumbai: Tata Motors on Wednesday reported disappointing numbers for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2018, with net profits sliding more than 50 per cent after a one-time impairment charge for product development.
The consolidated net profits of the homegrown automobile major fell to Rs 2,125.24 crore from Rs 4,295.85 crore in the corresponding January-March quarter last year.
Analysts were expecting the company to post net profits of around Rs 3,700 crore.
The unexpected drop in its bottomline came as the company made a provision of Rs 1,641.38 crore for what it called impairment of capital work-in progress and intangibles under development.
A rise in total expenses to Rs 87,695.46 crore from Rs 73,734.46 crore in the year-ago period also weighed on the profits.
The numbers came out at a time the company saw positive conditions in China and India even as it faced challenges in other markets.
With a volume growth of 18 per cent during the quarter, Tata Motors saw its revenues rise to Rs 91,279 crore compared with Rs 78,747 crore in the corresponding period of 2016-17. Of this, net revenues at its arm Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) rose almost four per cent to £7.55 billion.
The company said it witnessed strong growth in China, the rest of the world and North America. However, it faced the challenges of currency fluctuation and the Brexit issue in the UK and uncertainty over diesel engines in Europe.
JLR will invest £4.5 billion in 2018-19 on new models and technologies.
India operations
On its domestic operations, Tata Motors said the impact of its turnaround strategy was visible during the year with the company gaining market share in commercial vehicles after a gap of seven years. The passenger vehicle division saw consecutive growth in market share for the second year.
While standalone revenues increased to Rs 19,779 crore during the fourth quarter from Rs 15,080.56 crore in the year-ago period, it posted losses of Rs 499.94 crore which is lower than the loss of Rs 805.93 crore in the year-ago period.
