Smashing street estimates, Tata Motors’s Q3FY24 profit more than doubled to £714.5 million, benefiting from the strength of its UK luxury car business, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR). It had posted a profit of £304.3 million in the year-ago period, which was the company’s first profit in two years.
Revenue totalled over £10.9 billion, up 25%.
Operating profit, a yardstick for underlying business performance, increased about 150% to £833.4 million. Expenses climbed 21% to £10.4 billion, Tata Motors said. This week, the company’s market cap surpassed that of Maruti Suzuki, making it India’s most valuable automobile player.
Operating profit of JLR zoomed 156% to £688.1 million on account of higher realisations, favourable volumes and reduced chip costs. Operating profit of non-JLR vehicles or Tata and other brands of passenger cars increased 44% to £27.8 million in Q3FY24, while that of Tata commercial vehicles rose 66% to £175.1 million.
Tata Motors’ management expects its Q4FY24 performance to better on account of new launches and improving supplies at JLR. The company’s net automotive debt at the end of Dec 31, 2023 stood at £2.92 billion.