11:50 am, January 31, 2025
JLR saw pre-tax slump by 18% in the third quarter, despite it raking in record revenue and achieving its best profit margin in a decade.
Latest financial results for October to December FY25 saw the British car maker turn in a £523m profit before tax – down from £627m a year before. Profit after tax, meanwhile, came to £375m which represented a £217m fall from the same period in FY24
Year to date (May to end of December 2024) profit before tax was £1.6bn, up 7% year on year, which was its best Q3 year-to-date profit before tax in a decade.
JLR put the rise in year on year profitability down to higher volumes, improved mix and a reduction in depreciation and amortisation driven by Castle Bromwich production cessation and ICE end of life extensions.
The firm also saw its EBIT margin rise by 0.2 percentage points to 9.0%; it was the best Q3 EBIT margin for a decade.
The fall in pre-tax profit was in stark contrast to revenue made during the period. JLR raked in record numbers; £7.5bn, up by £100m year on year, while year to date revenue at £21.bn was flat year‑on‑year.
Those higher volumes were only in wholesale – up 3% to 104,427 – as retail sales were down 3% to 106,334.
Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and the Land Rover Defender now make up 70% of JLR’s wholesales.
JLR CEO Adrian Mardell said: ‘JLR has delivered a robust performance in the third quarter of our financial year, and reached further milestones in our Reimagine strategy.
‘Thanks to our people and partners, we achieved record Q3 revenue and our best EBIT margin in a decade, and our electrification plans are progressing.
‘We revealed the beautiful, reimagined Jaguar design vision ‑ Type 00 ‑ in Miami and, later this year, we will launch Range Rover Electric.’
Yesterday, Reuters reported that shares in JLR’s parent Tata Motors had fallen by around 9% to a 14-month low on Jan 30.
Third quarter profits fell to 54.51bn rupees – significantly shy of analysts’ expectations of a profit of 67.42bn rupees.
JLR accounts for three-fourths of Tata’s overall pre-tax profit.
