Tata Motors Sees Weak First Quarter As Lockdowns Hit Sales

India's Tata Motors Ltd said on Monday it expects a significantly weak 2021 first quarter, as it grapples with worsening demand and coronavirus-induced lockdowns in several countries where it sells its luxury Jaguar Land Rover cars.

Sales at JLR, which rakes in most of the company's revenue, were heavily impacted during the quarter as some of its key markets such as China and Europe went into lockdowns, while also disrupting supply chains.

The pandemic has been a major blow to Tata Motors which had made progress on its turnaround plan to improve JLR sales in key markets. The company in January warned the virus outbreak could impact profits at the JLR unit.

Tata Motors' consolidated net loss was 98.94 billion rupees ($1.30 billion) for the fourth quarter ended March 31, compared with a profit of 11.17 billion rupees a year earlier.

JLR retail unit sales slumped nearly 31% during the quarter, and Tata Motors said outlook for the unit remains uncertain.

The company's total revenue from operations fell 27.7% to 624.93 billion rupees in the reported quarter as its home market, India, already facing a bruising slowdown in demand went into a lockdown due to the pandemic.

(Reuters)