Carmaker Jaguar Land Rover is reporting quarterly pre-tax profits of £435m, a dramatic turnaround from the £524m loss for the same period a year ago. Tony McDonough reports
Jaguar Land Rover is reporting a dramatic year-on-year turnaround reporting pre-tax profits for the first quarter of its fiscal year of £435m.
This figure, for the three months to June 30, compares to a £524m loss for the same period in 2022 as the company grappled with a global shortage of semiconductor computer chips.
Revenues in the quarter came in at £6.9bn – 57% higher than last year. Wholesale volumes of 93,253 vehicles were also up 30% year on year.
JLR employs more than 3,500 people at Halewood in Merseyside assembling the Range Rover, Evoque and the Land Rover Discovery Sport.
It said the higher profitability year-on-year reflects favourable volume, mix, pricing and foreign exchange revaluation offset partially by higher inflation and supplier claims.
Free cash flow for the period was £451m, the best Q1 cashflow on record. This contributed to a strengthening of the company’s balance sheet with cash increasing to £4bn and net debt reduced to £2.5bn.
JLR’s order book remained strong with more than 185,000 client orders at quarter end, reducing from 200,000 at March 31, 2023, in line with expectations, as chip and other supply constraints continue to improve.
Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Defender demand remained strong and accounted for 76% of the order book.
Halewood is set to benefit from a £15bn commitment to transform the business from one that makes petrol-driven cars to an all-electric vehicle maker. By 2025 a new all-electric SUV model will be rolling off the production line in Merseyside.
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Adrian Mardell, who was last week appointed as permanent chief executive of JLR, said: “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 production levels in nine quarters and our highest Q1 cashflow on record.
“This is testament to the thousands of determined people in the business working tirelessly to deliver every aspect of our Reimagine strategy.”