Tata profit misses estimates on slowing JLR sales
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MUMBAI (Bloomberg) -- Tata Motors, the owner of Jaguar Land Rover, reported profit that missed analysts' estimates as demand for its luxury vehicles slowed.
Net income rose 12 percent to 22.45 billion rupees ($407 million) in the three months ended June 30, the Mumbai-based company said in a statement on Thursday. That missed the 27.3 billion rupee median of 35 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Profit at the automaker's Jaguar Land Rover unit was 236 million pounds ($369 million) or 22 percent below the median estimate. The results may raise concern that demand at the British luxury-vehicle unit is waning amid Europe's sovereign-debt crisis and a slowing economy in China.
Sales at the Jaguar Land Rover unit rose 34 percent to 83,452 vehicles in the last quarter. Of these, 11,774 were Jaguar sales and 71,678 Land Rover sales. In the first quarter, sales increased by 48 percent.
In June, Jaguar saw sales decline for the first time in seven months, and deliveries of Land Rover sport utility vehicles -- excluding the sold-out Evoque -- dropped for a third month, according to CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets.
Jaguar Land Rover CEO Ralf Speth is facing pressure to revamp Jaguar's aging designs and increase Land Rover's appeal beyond the success of its hit Evoque model, after sales growth slowed last quarter.
"Demand is clearly slowing for JLR on uncertainty in Europe," said Basudeb Banerjee, an analyst with Quant Broking Pvt in Mumbai. "The next quarter too may be lackluster and the third quarter will be crucial."
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