Luxury car maker JLR drives first quarter revenues to new record

Jaguar Land Rover has published its best first quarter revenues in the history of the luxury car maker.

In the three months to June 30, 2024, turnover was £7.3bn, up five per cent versus Q1 FY24.

Compared with Q4 FY24, revenue was down seven per cent, reflecting fewer production weeks in Q1 FY25 versus Q4 FY24.

Profit before tax and exceptional items in the quarter was £693m, up from £435m a year ago. EBIT margin was 8.9%, up 0.3 percentage points compared with Q1 FY24.

The higher profitability year‑on‑year reflects favourable volume, mix and material cost improvements, offset partially by increased marketing spend compared with a year ago.

Profit after tax in the quarter was £502m, compared with a profit of £323m in the same quarter a year ago.

Free cash flow for the quarter was £230m.

At the end of the quarter, the cash balance was £3.8bn and net debt £1bn, with gross debt of £4.8bn.

The net debt position improved by £1.5bn year‑on‑year, although it was £300m higher than Q4 FY24 due to the payment of an annual dividend of £387m to parent company TML Holdings Pte. Ltd and other non‑operating items of £96m.

Total liquidity was £5.3bn, including the £1.5bn undrawn revolving credit facility maturing on April 1, 2026.

The positive momentum in JLR’s financial performance was driven by higher wholesale volumes, investment in demand generation and a favourable pricing environment.

Looking ahead, JLR says it is likely to witness constrained production in Q2 and Q3 reflecting the annual summer plant shutdown and floods at a key aluminium supplier.

As the group work towards mitigation and recovery, it will hold its guidance on the key full year financial deliverables of >8.5% EBIT and achieving net cash.

The new Defender OCTA – the most powerful Defender ever made – was initially revealed in the quarter to a select group of prospective clients at one of seven exclusive experiential events, prior to its public debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July.

Development of the new Jaguar is progressing well with camouflaged prototypes now in road testing.

The group increased investment from £15bn to £18bn over five years to support the delivery of its Reimagine strategy.

Also, JLR and Chinese operation, Chery, signed an agreement for JLR to licence the Freelander brand to the CJLR joint venture for the creation of a portfolio of electric vehicles in China, based on Chery’s EV architecture.

CEO, Adrian Mardell, said: “Thanks to the hard work and commitment of our people, JLR has delivered an outstanding set of results in the first quarter, with record revenues and an increase in year‑on‑year quarterly profits of nearly 60”.

“We are making great progress delivering our Reimagine strategy. Our Jaguar TCS Racing Formula E Team, pioneers in electric technology innovation, are winners of this year’s ABB FIA Formula E Team and Manufacturer’s World Championships.

“We are bringing the lessons learned from this success on the racetrack to our luxury electric vehicles and later this year we will unveil our first next generation luxury electric vehicle, Range Rover Electric, which has more than 41,000 customers on its waiting list.”

The Indian-owned manufacturer has production plants at Halewood in Merseyside and Solihull and Castle Bromwich in the West Midlands.