Tata Motors JLR posts GBP 3.6bn loss amid weak China demand

Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) on Monday posted an annual loss of 3.6 billion pounds, largely attributed to a nearly six per cent "weak" demand for its luxury car models in China.

Britain's largest carmaker, which has made a number of interventions over the threats posed by a hard Brexit on the automotive industry's profit margins, celebrated a return to profit in the fourth quarter of the 2018-19 financial year.

"Jaguar Land Rover has been one of the first companies in its sector to address the multiple headwinds simultaneously sweeping the automotive industry," said JLR CEO Ralf Speth.

"Jaguar Land Rover is focused on the future as we overcome the structural and cyclical issues that impacted our results in the past financial year. We will go forward as a transformed company that is leaner and fitter, building on the sustained investment of recent years in new products and the autonomous, connected, electric and shared technologies that will drive future demand," he said.

The annual figures were impacted by a 3.1 billion pounds write down in the third quarter to cover falling demand for newer models as well as for diesel-powered cars, announced previously by JLR.

The company said: "In the 12-month period, the company made a pre-tax loss of 358 million pounds before exceptional items, primarily as a result of lower full-year unit sales against the backdrop of a weaker China market."
"The previously-announced third quarter non-cash impairment charge of 3.1 billion pounds and the redundancy costs taken in the fourth quarter contributed to a full-year pre-tax loss of 3.6 billion pounds on revenues that declined 1.6 billion pounds year-on-year to 24.2 billion pounds."