Tata Motors announced yesterday after market hours that retail sales of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) for the three-month period to 30 September 2020 were significantly improved from sales in the preceding quarter but continue to be impacted by Covid-19.

Retail sales for the quarter ending 30 September 2020 were at 113,569 vehicles, up over 50% from sales of 74,067 in the prior quarter, while down 11.9% from pre-Covid levels a year ago.

China sales were particularly encouraging, up 14.6% on the prior quarter and 3.7% year-on-year. The month of September also saw sales up 28.5% year-on-year in China.

Retail sales for other regions also significantly improved from the prior quarter, including the UK (+231.6%), Europe (+78.8%), North America (+21.3%) and Overseas (+35.1%). However, sales in these regions have not yet recovered to pre-Covid levels a year ago: UK (-2.9%), North America (- 15.8%), Europe (-19.8%) and Overseas markets (-30.3%).

Jaguar Land Rover will be releasing its financial results for the quarter to 30 September 2020 later this month. The company ended September with about £3 billion of cash and short-term deposits, up £0.3 billion, primarily reflecting positive free cash flow as expected in the quarter. Total liquidity was about £5 billion, including the company’s £1.9 billion revolving credit facility, which remains undrawn.

Following this news, the stock has been among the top five gainers on the BSE since the opening bell, rising almost 8.5% to Rs.144.90. It is pretty close to its 10% UC of the day of Rs.147.25.