Tata Motors on Monday disappointed the Street as it posted wider than expected loss for the third quarter ended December 31, 2021 on chip shortage amid higher raw material prices.

The homegrown auto major reported a consolidated loss of Rs 1,516.14 crore compared with a profit of Rs 2,906.45 crore in the same period of the previous year.

This is the fourth straight quarter where Tata Motors is posting losses. Analysts had expected the firm to report losses of around Rs 1,000 crore.

During the quarter, total revenues fell to Rs 72,229.29 crore from Rs 75,653.79 crore in the year ago period.

Sales at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) were constrained by chip shortage, while the India operations saw margins being affected due to commodity inflation.

Revenues at JLR came in at £ 4.7 billion, up 22 per cent on a sequential basis from £3.87 billion, though it was lower than £ 5.98 billion recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year. JLR posted a pre-tax loss of £ 9 million as against a loss of £ 302 million in the preceding three months.

The company however, added that the semiconductor shortage is expected to continue through 2022 but is expected to gradually improve as capacity within the supply base increases. JLR disclosed that it is also engaging with first-tier suppliers and directly with the chip manufacturers to secure supply longer-term and that given this gradual expected improvement, the bottomline will improve with positive cashflow.

Tata Motors’ standalone operations saw total revenues rising to Rs 12,352.78 crore from Rs 9635.78 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. its profits came in at rs 175.85 crore as compared to a loss of Rs 638.04 crore in the year ago period. The company however, cautioned that commodity inflation continues to remain a challenge.

"Looking ahead, we expect the demand for commercial, passenger and electric vehicles to sustain even as concerns related to supply of semiconductors, high input costs and rising instances of covid keep the overall situation fluid. We will remain agile, address supply bottlenecks proactively, drive our savings program harder, take prudent pricing actions while continuing to make good progress in our future-fit initiatives of transforming customer experience digitally and strengthening our lead in sustainable mobility’’, Girish Wagh, Executive Director Tata Motors said.