Tata Motors shares gain after S&P upgrades rating

Tata Motors shares were trading higher in the afternoon trade on Wednesday after the company informed bourses that rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) upgraded the long-term corporate rating of Tata Motors to ‘BB+’ from ‘BB’ earlier with stable outlook. At 2.42 am, shares of the auto major were trading 0.42 per cent up at Rs 509.05. The scrip opened the day at Rs 511.90 and has touched a high and low of Rs 514.35 and Rs 506.40, respectively, in trade so far. Benchmark BSE Auto index was trading 0.72 per cent up at 21,428.27. S&P also raised the rating on Tata Motors’ US-dollar-denominated senior unsecured notes to ‘BB+’ from ‘BB’.

S&P Rating in a release said, “The stable outlook indicates that the auto major can maintain firm bottomline figures, especially at JLR, supporting its financial position with ratio of funds from operations (FFO) to debt of about 40 per cent over the next 12-24 months. Tata Motors is scheduled to announce its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 on August 26.”

Tata Motors is scheduled to announce its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 on August 26. For the quarter ended March 2016, the company registered a consolidated net profit of Rs 5177.06 crore, up 201.61 per cent, against Rs 1716.50 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. Gross sales of the company jumped by 18.56 per cent year-on-year to Rs 81247.09 crore for the quarter under review against Rs 68528.69 crore in the same quarter last year. During Jan-March 2016, Operating profit of Tata Motors jumped by 34 per cent year-on-year to Rs 11635.80 crore against Rs 8683.47 crore in the same period last year.

Later, the scrip closed 0.66 per cent up at Rs 510.25.

Tata Motors