Tata Motors net at Rs 4 bn in Q3

Tata Motors today reported revenues (net of excise) of Rs 89.79 billionon a stand-alone basis for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2009, of the financial year 2009-10, a growth of 88.7% compared to Rs 47.58 billion in the corresponding quarter last year.

The company`s operating margins (EBITDA) came in at 12.8%, an improvement of 1092 basis points compared with the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Volume recovery and marginal price increase undertaken in October 2009 to combat strengthening commodity prices aided the company to maintain double digit margins.

Profit before tax for the quarter was Rs. 5.55 billion (loss in Q3 2008-09: Rs 4.19 billion, after considering notional foreign exchange loss (net) of Rs. 2.26 billion) and profit after tax was Rs 4 billion (loss in Q3 2008-09: Rs 2.63 billion).

Introduction of new products and strong continued growth in the existing portfolio, along with government stimulus, a benign liquidity environment and overall economic recovery, has driven domestic demand revival during the current year. The sales volume for the quarter (including exports) stood at 165,413 vehicles. This is a growth of 67.5% over sales of 98,760 vehicles in Q3 2008-09, which witnessed steep decline in volumes impacted by the financial crisis.

In the domestic market, Commercial Vehicles sales increased by 88.8% to 93,520 units leading to a market share of 64.3%. With a growth of 121.6% in Q3 2009-10 over sales in Q3 2008-09, the Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicle segment witnessed a yearon- year growth for the second quarter in a row in the current fiscal year. Light Commercial Vehicles, led by the continued strong performance of the Ace and its variants and on the low base of previous year, witnessed significant growth of 70.5% over Q3 2008-09. While investment in infrastructure projects, continuing stimulus support and smooth implementation of the change in emission norms would influence the magnitude of growth in the coming quarters, the company has planned several new product launches to defend and improve its market position.

Passenger Vehicles, including Fiat and Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles distributed in India, grew by 46% in the domestic market to 61,593 units. The market share for Tata passenger vehicles for the period stood at 11.8%. The company launched the new Indigo Manza during the quarter which saw the Indigo range sales grow by 63.5% over Q3 2008-09, substantially higher than the 35% growth of the Entry Mid-size Sedan market. The company has also ramped up the production rate of the Nano at the plant in Uttarakhand, and has till Dec. 31, 2009 delivered 17,537 units of Nano. Along with Fiat, the company has a joint market share of 13.1% in the industry.

The company`s revenues (net of excise) were Rs. 233.63 billion in the nine month period of April - December 2009, a growth of 24.5% compared to Rs. 187.65 billion in the corresponding period of last year. Profit before Tax was Rs 20.09 billion, an increase of 607.8% compared to Rs 2.83 billion (after considering notional foreign exchange loss (net) of Rs. 6.32 billion) in the nine month period last year, while profit after tax was Rs. 16.43 billion, a growth of 300.9% over Rs 4 billion in the corresponding period last year.

Shares of the company declined Rs 5.3, or 1.26%, to settle at Rs 416. The total volume of shares traded was 12,388 at the BSE (Friday).

Source:Indiacar.com Source: Myiris.com (1/29/2010)