Zee Media Bureau
Tata Motors shares fell over 5.5 percent on Wednesday after the company`s net profit more than halved in the Jan-March quarter.
India`s biggest automaker by revenue reported a surprise 56 percent drop in its March quarter net profit on Tuesday, hit by cooling demand for its sleek Jaguar saloons and sporty Range Rovers in the key Chinese market.
Consolidated net profit for the fourth quarter which ended March 31 slumped to Rs 17.17 billion (USD 268.28 million) from Rs 39.18 billion during the same period a year earlier, the Mumbai-based company said.
Tata Motors` consolidated net profit for the financial year also declined, falling to Rs 139.86 billion (USD 2.19 billion) from Rs 139.91 billion for 2013-14.
A 33 percent decline in profit at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), which Tata Motors bought for USD 2.3 billion from Ford in 2008, contributed to the slide, the company said in a statement to the stock exchange.
The firm blamed the fall at JLR to "higher depreciation and amortisation", effectively higher write-offs, and "unfavourable revaluation of foreign currency debt and unrealised hedges".
Tata Motors remained upbeat about JLR`s potential however, and said it was likely to invest nearly four billion pounds (USD 6.16 billion) in the luxury unit in coming months.
Earnings were also hit by a prolonged slump in sales of small commercial vehicles in India.
Losses at Tata`s Indian operations continued to balloon and reached Rs 11.64 billion for the quarter and Rs 47.39 billion for the year.
With Agency Inputs
