Jaguar Land Rover has posted pre-tax profits of AUD$972 million in the first three months of 2021 before exceptional chargers, with boss Thierry Bollore saying the result showcases the “significant progress” made in the firm’s bold transformation strategy.
But the British car maker, owned by the Indian Tata Group, will record an annual loss of £861 million for the financial year ending 31 March, due to charges incurred as part of its cost-cutting transformation plan.
Jaguar Land Rover sold 123,483 vehicles in the first three months of 2021, representing a 12.4% year-on-year rise. It was boosted by a strong performance in China, where sales where up 127% over the same period last year, when the country was most hit by Covid-19 restrictions.
While Jaguar Land Rover’s total sales of 439,588 vehicles was 13.6% down on the 2019/2020 financial year, the firm was boosted by year-on-year growth in China and the strong performance of the new Defender, with 45,255 sold during the financial year.
The strong results for the last financial quarter boosted Jaguar Land Rover’s annual pre-tax profits for its financial year that ran to 31 March before exceptional charges to £662 million. But the firm incurred AUD$2.73 billion of exceptional charges, including AUD$1.205 billion in non-cash investment write-downs and AUD$972 million of restructuring charges. That means the firm will record an annual loss of AUD$1.57 billion, compared to AUD$768 billion for 2019/2020.
Jaguar Land Rover cited AUD$604 million in profit and cash improvements relating to its Project Charge+ restructure plan in the final quarter, which it says brings the total saving to £6 billion since the programme launched in 2018.
Company boss Thierry Bollore said: “I have been encouraged by the company’s resilience and strong recovery during a uniquely challenging year.”
He added: “Our strategy is ambitious and it will make us more agile, efficient and sustainable. Although it is still early days, we have made significant progress in implementing it. This has reaffirmed my confidence that we have the right strategy, the right people and the right product-plans to deliver against our targets. Jaguar Land Rover is well placed to emerge from the pandemic as a stronger and more resilient company that is able to navigate and capitalise on the opportunities ahead.”
James Attwood