Tata Motors gains 62% from Feb low on Tata Sons stake buy, improved outlook

Shares of Tata Motors continued its northward journey, rising 7 per cent, to hit a fresh six-month high of Rs 230 on the BSE on expectation of improved outlook. 

The stock was trading at its highest level since October 4, 2018, on the BSE. It has rallied 62 per cent from its February 8, 2019, low of Rs 142 on the BSE, after the company's promoter, Tata Sons bought shares worth over Rs 500 crore in the company through open market. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex and S&P BSE Auto index were up 6.5 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively, during the period.

Between February 11 and February 26, Tata Sons had purchased 31.67 million shares worth of Rs 527 crore of Tata Motors from open market, according to disclosure made by the company to stock exchanges. Post-transaction, Tata Sons' holding in Tata Motors increased to 34.4 per cent from 33.61 per cent, data shows. CLICK HERE FOR FULL DETAILS

The name of the sellers, however, could not be ascertained immediately. The company has not yet declared its January-March 2019 quarter shareholding pattern.

On March 29, Tata Motor's wholly-owned subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) said it expects improved financial results for the quarter ended March 2019 (Q4FY19).

“The company reaffirms that it expects improved financial results in the fourth quarter period to March 31, 2019, compared to the first nine months of the financial year, with significant positive cash flow in the fourth quarter,” JLR said. The company continues to execute its product plans and Project Charge turnaround strategy to deliver 2.5 billion pounds of cash flow improvements by March 2020, it said.

The Tata Motors Group global wholesales in March 2019, including JLR, were down 5 per cent year-on-year (YoY) at 1,45,459 units. The Group global wholesales during the month was better as compared to the last two months. In January, it was 12 per cent lower, while in February it was down 9 per cent, as compared to previous year month.

Mr Felix Brautigam, Jaguar Land Rover, Chief Commercial Officer said, “Despite a challenging time for us and the automotive industry, we were able to deliver growth in three of our five regions. In North America, the UK and Overseas we posted solid growth on the back of strong demand for our exciting product line-up, achieving record sales and outpacing industry trends in many markets.”

Brokerage firm Edelweiss Securities expects Tata Motors’s consolidated operating margins to improve sequentially by 250bps to 10.4 per cent in March quarter due to an improvement in JLR’s businesses (lower employee cost being one of them).