Tata Motors Ltd gained the most in four months on Friday after its global sales increased more than analysts’ expectations. Shares of the company gained Rs 12.80, or 5.65 per cent, to Rs 239.50 on the National Stock Exchange, the most since February 15.
The company posted a 12 per cent year-on-year growth in global sales in May at 96,089 units, led by a robust growth at its luxury Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) unit. Deliveries at JLR jumped 35 per cent to 30,094 units in May, exceeding average analysts’ estimation of 28,175 in a Bloomberg survey.
In a separate filing, Tata Motors on Friday said Chairman Ratan Tata had purchased 425,000 shares of the company at an average price of Rs 233.87 per share. Post the acquisition, Ratan Tata holds 1,361,730 ordinary shares and 109,180 ‘A’ ordinary shares, aggregating to 0.05 per cent of voting rights in Tata Motors.
Tata Motors’ stock was the biggest gainer on the 30-share Sensex, which gained 1.63 per cent to 16,949.83 on Friday.
Deliveries of Land Rover vehicles rose 42 per cent to 25,752 units, while sales of the Jaguar-brand cars increased three per cent to 4,342, Tata Motors said in a release.
JLR benefited from a demand in China for its Range Rover Evoque sport-utility vehicle. “China’s luxury car market is propelling JLR’s sales. Continuing demand for the Evoque and the fact that China’s luxury car sales are not slowing are strong indicators of the positive outlook for the company,” Mitul Shah, an analyst at Karvy Stock Broking said to Bloomberg.“Volume growth for JLR should remain robust on China and new Evoque sales. However, we expect margins to remain at 14 to 14.5 per cent due to a weaker product mix and rising marketing expenses,” said Kapil Singh, an analyst at Nomura, in a report.
Nomura, which has slashed its price target on Tata Motors from Rs 329 to Rs 243, believes global slowdown remains a key risk for the company.
For the year ended March 31, JLR contributed 63 per cent of revenue at Tata Motors, up from 57 per cent a year earlier.
