Hit by an increase in raw material costs and a drop in domestic sales,Tata Motors today posted a marginal over 1 per cent growth in profit for the first quarter of this fiscal at Rs 401 crore and said pressure on margins is likely to continue. The profit for the corresponding quarter last year was Rs 395.72 crore. For the period under review,sales rose 14 per cent to Rs 11,833.19 crore. Attributing the flat numbers to rising input costs,Tata Motors Group Chief Financial Officer C Ramakrishnan said,"Rising costs of steel,rubber and other raw materials have squeezed our margins." "Higher interest rates too are a matter of concern. We will need to watch interest rates from consumers' point of view,since loan rates may go up. We expect pressure on our margins to continue." He added that the company would go ahead with planned capital expenditure of Rs 3,000-3,500 crore for its domestic business this fiscal,notwithstanding the negative climate. "We intend to procure more components for Jaguar Land Rover from the country to bring down costs. We also intend to improve our sales in China and Russia,so that it can compensate for any probable slowdowns in other markets." "Land Rover sales should continue to improve as we expand into growing markets such as India,China,Brazil and Russia," Ramakrishnan said. Jaguar Land Rover sales for the quarter,stood at 62,090 units,representing a growth of 4.9 per cent compared to the same quarter last fiscal on the back of better product and market mix with strong growth in China and Russia. Jaguar's forthcoming Range Rover Evoque,being launched next month,has received around 18,000 bookings,the company said. Sales of commercial and passenger vehicles,including exports,stood at 1,97,606 units for the quarter,while the domestic commercial vehicles sales rose 13 percent to 1,13,186 units in the domestic market. Domestic passenger vehicles sales declined by 11 percent. The company's shares closed at Rs 845.60 today,up 0.20 per cent from the previous close on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The company's market share in commercial vehicles stood at 60.1 per cent. Sales of passenger vehicles,including Fiat and Jaguar Land Rover vehicles distributed in the country,declined by 10.7 per cent in the domestic market to 69,529 units. The market share in passenger vehicles stood at 11.9 per cent. Cost pressures,including commodity price increase,resulted in a reduction in the operating margins to 8.4 per cent,and an EBITDA of Rs 999 crore in the quarter,declining by 15 per cent over Rs 1,175 crore in the same quarter last fiscal. Company INFO More on Tata Motors Stocks More on Tata Motors
