A weak operating environment took a toll on Tata Motors’ Indian operations in the third quarter ended December 31, 2012, and this resulted in the company reporting a 52 per cent drop in its consolidated net profit for the third quarter of 2012-13 at Rs.1,628 crore. Consolidated revenues were up 1.8 per cent at Rs.46,090 crore while operating profit was down 31 per cent at Rs.3,587.32 crore.
For the nine months ended December 2012, the company reported a 19 per cent drop in consolidated net profit at Rs.5,947 crore on 16 per cent higher consolidated revenues of Rs.1,32,816 crore.
Tata Motors’ standalone operations were adversely impacted by the weak macro-economic environment and competitive pressures on pricing continued to impact operations, a company statement said. This resulted in the company reporting a loss of Rs.458 crore in the quarter under review against a profit of Rs.174 crore in the year-ago period. Revenues slipped 20 per cent to Rs.10,630 crore while operating margin slid alarmingly to 2.2 per cent (6.7 per cent).
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For the nine months ended December 2012, the net profit was Rs.614 crore (Rs.677 crore) largely due to a dividend from JLR and subsidiaries amounting to Rs.1,575 crore.
JLR margins hit
Jaguar Land Rover reported a net profit of 296 million pound sterling (393 million pound sterling) on marginally higher revenues of 3.804 billion pound sterling (3.75 billion pound sterling) while operating profit was 17 per cent lower at 533 million pound sterling.
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Operating margin
The operating margin fell to 14 per cent from 17 per cent a year ago which the company attributed to product mix, ongoing effect of higher marketing costs and continued growth in product investments.
The company said the strong revenue and operating performance were supported by strong demand for its products, favourable market mix and exchange rate environment and was partially offset by the model mix.