JLR report profitable quarter despite fall in sales

Yahoo

2 days ago

Jaguar Land Rover has reported a profit for the 11th quarter in a row despite drops in revenue and sales. Revenue for the first quarter was £6.6 billion, down 9.2 per cent on the same period last year, with profit before tax falling to £351 million - almost half the figure from last year.
It has been a busy 12 months for the company, with a highly publicised rebranding late in 2024, followed by problems off the back of US president Donald Trump's controversial trade tariffs - there has also been gradual phase-out of older Jaguar models which have also contributed to fall in profits compared to the previous year.
The latest quarterly figures have been announced days after it was revealed CEO Adrian Mardell would be retiring. But there are plenty of positives too - JLR has welcomed a new UK-US trade deal that has cut tariffs on UK-built cars exported to the US from 27.5 percent to 10 percent, which came into effect on 30 June. A separate EU-US agreement will also reduce tariffs on its EU-built cars in future.
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The company also announced last week Mr Mardell's successor, Mr P.B. Balaji will become CEO from November 2025 following Mr Mardell's departure
The quarter saw progress in the Coventry car maker's electrification plans, with media test drives of the new electric Range Rover and over 200 test builds of a new electric SUV at its Halewood plant. Special edition models were also launched across the Range Rover, Defender and Discovery ranges.
The company's earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) remains the same at 4 percent, slightly lower than the guidance range of 5 to 7 percent. Mr Mardell said the company would continue to invest in new models, including electric Jaguar and Range Rover vehicles, with £3.8 billion planned this year.
'Thanks to our talented people and the robust foundations we have built at JLR, we delivered an 11th successive profitable quarter amid challenging global economic conditions," he said "We are grateful to the UK and US Governments for delivering at speed the new UK-US trade deal, which will lessen the significant US tariff impact in subsequent quarters, as will, in due course, the EU-US trade deal announced on 27 July 2025.
"Looking ahead, we remain focused on delivering our transformational Reimagine Strategy, including investing £3.8 billion this financial year to support the development of our next-generation vehicles, including our stunning new electric Range Rover and Jaguar models."
Dr Charles Tennant, a local Automotive Analyst, said: "Another successful quarterly profit driven by high profit margin Range Rover and Defender sales.
"Unfortunately sales were down by 9.2% due to temporarily pausing vehicle shipments to America in April when tariffs were raised to an unsustainable level of 27.5 percent although that should settle down now that the UK - USA trade deal has been signed off at the 10 percent level.
"Looking ahead the EBIT profit margin forecast of between 5 percent to 7 percent for the full year is lower than the 10 percent originally planned but I'm sure JLR will be looking at how they can increase that for next year."