Tata Motors lost 3.3 billion rupees (US$67.2 million) last quarter, driven by a 52 percent drop in sales volumes at its Jaguar Land Rover subsidiary and the cost of servicing its debt, the company said on Monday.
During the same period last year, Tata posted a profit of 7.2 billion rupees.
“With volumes down so much, it’s really a challenge,” chief executive Ravi Kant told reporters. “We are doing a lot of cost-reduction measures, but we need support from the market.”
In July, the company reported stand-alone results. Without the burden of its Jaguar Land Rover acquisition in June last year, Tata Motors, India’s largest commercial vehicle maker, had a quarterly profit of 5.1 billion rupees.
Consolidated net sales for the quarter were 162.9 billion rupees, up from 144.1 billion rupees in the same period last year.
The company has tried to manage its growing debt burden — now more than 350 billion rupees — most of it incurred to buy and operate Jaguar Land Rover. Tata Motors took out a US$3 billion bridge loan to buy the brand from Ford Motor Co, and has since had to pump in additional funds.
Last quarter, Tata Motors provided £50 million (US$81 million) to fund Jaguar Land Rover’s operating expenses, and is finalizing an additional £100 million in loans from commercial banks, executives said on Monday.
Tata Motors has also secured funding from a group of 24 banks to roll over US$850 million of the bridge loan it took out last year.
Standard & Poor’s Ratings agency downgraded Tata Motors ratings last month because of high debt and the poor performance of Jaguar and Land Rover.
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