Tata Motors Q1 net rises 42% to Rs 3,182 cr on JLR's pension plans

Changes to the way JLR's pension payments are calculated resulted in a one-time gain of Rs 3,609 cr

Tata Motors Ltd posted a 42% rise in quarterly profit on Wednesday.

Profit was Rs 3,182 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, compared with Rs 2,236 crore a year earlier, the company said. 

The automaker, owned by the software-to-salt conglomerate Tata Group, said its total income fell about 10% to Rs 59,972 crore versus Rs 66,339 crore a year ago.

After announcing results, the company said, "First quarter results have not met our expectations." It plans to launch its new car Nexon in September.

The company made a one- time gain of Rs 3,609 crore related to the changes made to Jaguar Land Rover pension plans.

Volume sales, including exports of commercial and passenger vehicles for the quarter stood at 1,11,860 units, down 11.8% when compared to the corresponding quarter last year, it said.

Tata Motors said its operating performance broadly reflected JLR's lower wholesale volumes excluding China JV and continuation of higher competitive incentive levels and launch and growth costs seen in FY17.

In the domestic market, there has been significant de- growth in the medium and heavy commercial vehicles segment, flat light commercial segment and moderate growth in passenger vehicles segment.

Tata Motors MD & CEO Guenter Butschek said: "While the first quarter results have not met our expectations, we are working with renewed focus and energy to improve performance of our commercial and passenger vehicle businesses." On a standalone basis, Tata Motors posted loss of Rs 467.05 crore for the June quarter of 2017-18 fiscal. It had registered a profit of Rs 25.75 crore in the same period of 2016-17.

Total income from operations on a standalone basis during the quarter was at Rs 10,375.32 crore as compared to Rs 11,434.91 crore in the year-ago period, down 9.26%.

British arm JLR reported a revenue of 5.6 billion pounds, up 244 million pounds.

JLR's profit before tax was 595 million pounds, up from 399 million pounds in the year-ago period.

This included a 437 million pounds one-off credit relating to recent changes designed to improve the sustainability of the company's defined benefit pension plans, Tata Motors said.

JLR retail sales for the quarter was at 137,463 units, up 3.5% from the year-ago period.

Jaguar Land Rover Chief Executive Officer Ralf Speth said: "We continue to deliver rising volumes and revenues across the business, reflecting strong demand for new models such as the Range Rover Velar and established global award winners such as Jaguar F-PACE."

Shares of Tata Motors ended the day at Rs 416.75 apiece, down 3.17%, on BSE.