Jaguar Land Rover well in the black as profits jump to £435m
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) saw its profits for the quarter surge to £435m, up from £67m last quarter, the firm reported today.
Revenues for the three months to June were at £6.9bn, up 57 per cent year-on-year, with the marque’s performance boosted by strong sales and demand for its luxury brands.
Production was at its “highest level in nine quarters,” Adrian Mardell, JLR’s chief executive officer, said today, continuing the automaker’s rebound from the lows of the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused havoc for car manufacturers supply chains.
Free cashflow – the amount a company has left over after paying its operating expenses – was £451m, the highest ever recorded by JLR in the first quarter.
“I am pleased to report a third consecutive quarter of strengthening financial performance for JLR. We have had a strong start to the financial year and delivered… our highest first quarter cashflow on record,” Mardell added.
The luxury car marque’s results came alongside a first quarter announcement from parent company Tata Motors, who said today that JLR accounted for over 70 per cent of its total revenue, despite usually making up two-thirds.
A 29 per cent jump in JLR’s retail sales drove up the Indian conglomerate’s quarterly revenue 42.5 per cent, to £9.7bn.
Richard Molyneux, JLR’s chief financial officer, said: “The good financial performance in the quarter reflects the strength of our luxury brands.”
“The record cashflow of £451 million brings our net debt down to £2.5 billion on our journey to become net cash positive. Looking ahead, we aim to deliver continuing improvements in results by executing our Reimagine strategy and generating the cash to invest in our electric future.”
It comes after a busy few months for the Coventry-based firm, which saw a slew of major announcements including the appointment of new interim CEO Adrian Mardell to a permanent role.
JLR-owner Tata made headlines last week with the news that it would build a giant £4bn gigafactory in the UK after months of speculation.
The Somerset-based plant will supply Jaguar with battery cells as the company looks to rev up its electric vehicle (EV) push under its so-called ‘Reimagine’ strategy.
Before 2023, the computer chip shortage had seen Jaguar in the red for nearly two years, as it struggled to raise production amid supply chain turmoil. It returned to the black in its third quarter results for 2022/23 in January, reporting £265m in pre-tax profits.