JLR owner Tata Motors' shares slip after quarterly loss

Shares of India's Tata Motors Ltd fell 3.7% on Tuesday, after the Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) owner reported a bigger quarterly loss than expected and warned of rising inflationary pressures.

Automakers worldwide have been roiled by chip shortages, supply chain disruptions, Covid-19 restrictions and rising raw material prices after a short-lived recovery towards the end of 2020.

"Demand remains strong despite near-term concerns... the semiconductor supply situation is improving gradually whilst inflation worries persist," Tata Motors said in an exchange filing.

Shares of the company were trading 1.7% lower at 504.05 rupees, as of 0415 GMT. Before results landed on Monday, the stock had jumped more than 4% and settled at 517.75 rupees.

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Brokerage Jefferies said in a note that it saw better times for JLR ahead as chip constraints eased, retaining its "buy" rating and raising the target price to 635 rupees from 625 rupees.

Tata Motors' consolidated net loss came in at 15.16 billion rupees ($203.23 million) for the quarter ended December 31, compared to a profit of 29.06 billion rupees a year earlier, when an easing of pandemic-related restrictions led to a pick-up in sales.

However, the recovery was short-lived as acute semiconductor shortages and supply chain disruptions delayed production, and Tata Motors slipped back to losses.

For the reported quarter, analysts had expected the Mumbai-based company to report a loss of 3.30 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

Tata Motors' earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation margin, a key measure of profitability, was 10.2% for the quarter, above estimates of 9.3%.

The company said it was engaging directly with chip manufacturers to secure longer-term supplies for JLR.

Total revenue from operations for the quarter fell 4.5% to 722.29 billion rupees, below estimates of 775.93 billion rupees.

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