Tata Motors' shares slump over 6% on disappointing Q3 earnings

Mumbai - Shares of auto major Tata Motors slumped over six percent Friday after the company reported 25.5 percent drop in consolidated net profit for the December quarter.

The stock tanked 6.24 per cent to Rs 552.75 on the BSE.

On the NSE, it fell sharply by 6.27 per cent to Rs 552.20.

The scrip was the top loser among the frontline stocks on both Sensex and Nifty.

"Tata Motors' Q3 FY15 results were below our estimates due to higher losses in the standalone business and lower than expected margins at JLR," said Bharat Gianani, Senior Research Analyst - Automobile, Angel Broking.

Tata Motors had yesterday reported 25.5 per cent drop in consolidated net profit at Rs 3,581 crore for the December quarter due to massive loss in domestic business and marginal dip in its bread and butter unit JLR's profit.

The company had posted consolidated net profit of Rs 4,804.8 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

The company also said that it is cautiously optimistic about cash flow at JLR next year due to a massive capital expenditure of up to 3.8 billion pounds involving its China venture and other expansion in Britain, where the company is setting up a new engine facility, and in Brazil.

On a standalone basis, Tata Motors India reported a massive net loss of Rs 2,122.72 crore as against a profit of Rs 1,251.4 crore in the same period a year ago.

After many quarters of robust bottomline growth, its marquee British arm JLR too reported a marginal dip in net income at 593 million pounds from 619 million pounds. PTI