Tata Motors posts $1 billion loss despite strong Q1 performance in 2021

Despite a strong performance in the first quarter of 2021, Tata Motors posted a $1 billion loss, the company announced on Tuesday. The company’s restructuring costs related to its British luxury car brand Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) also hit the automaker’s bottom line.

During the January-March period, the Indian carmaker posted a consolidated net loss of 76 billion rupees, slimming its losses from 98.9 billion rupees a year earlier.

The auto giant’s revenues jumped 42%, but exceptional costs worth £1.5 billion ($2.13 billion, 1.74 billion euros) related to its restructuring of JLR hurt its profitability.

“It was a strong and resilient all-round performance for us, despite the pandemic,” news agency AFP quoted PB Balaji, chief financial officer of Tata Motors, as saying.

With the COVID-19 pandemic raging, Tata Motors reported losses for three consecutive quarters last year.

But an easing of coronavirus restrictions saw the firm’s revenues soar between October 2020 and March this year, as consumers splashed out on big-ticket items.

“We will continue to remain vigilant about the evolving Covid situation,” the company’s CEO and managing director Guenter Butschek said in a statement.

In February, JLR said it would lay off 2,000 employees in the financial year 2021-22, with a plan to go fully electric from 2025.

Tata Motors’ share price has surged 78% in 2021 so far, boosted by expectations of a sustained recovery in profitability.

Its shares closed over 3% higher in Mumbai Tuesday ahead of the earnings announcement.