Tata Motors hits over 5-year low; stock falls 41% in 2018 on JLR concerns

Shares of Tata Motors hit an over five-year low of Rs 253 per share, down 5% in intra-day trade, after the CEO of company owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), Britain’s biggest carmaker, reportedly warned that a hard Brexit would cost 1.2 billion pounds a year. The Stock Market was trading at its lowest level since April 8, 2013 on the BSE.
“Extra costs and delays in parts deliveries coming from outside the U.K. would cut profit by 1.2 billion pounds a year, Ralf Speth, chief executive officer of the manufacturer owned by Tata Motors Ltd., said late Wednesday in an emailed statement,” the Bloomberg report suggested.

Thus far in the calendar year 2018, Tata Motors underperformed the market by falling 41%, has seen market capitalisation erosion of Rs 547 billion at Rs 822 billion. On comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 4.7% during the period.

Analysts at Prabhudas Lilladher expect volumes for JLR to be subdued over the next few quarters due to global headwinds and uncertainty over diesel engines, however the brokerage firm believe the management’s aggressive cost reduction efforts would enable JLR to achieve its stated near term EBIT margins of 4-7% over FY19-21.