Record sales for JLR but profits fall

Profits fell for Jaguar Land Rover in its last financial year despite selling a record number of cars.

The business, which has its £1 billion engine manufacturing centre at the i54 to the north of Wolverhampton, sold 521,571 vehicles in the 12 months to the end of March.

Although volume of sales was up 13 per cent the car company's pre-tax profit was down from £2.6 billion to £1.56bn.

Sales, which topped half a million for the first time, were helped by new models like the Land Rover Discovery Sport and the Jaguar XE and XF.

The combination of an increased demand for new models; solid growth in markets including Europe, North America and the UK helped full year revenues reach £22.2bn, up £342 million on 2014-2015.

Profits were hit by an exceptional charge for the Tianjin port explosion in China last August of £157 million, net of insurance and other expected recoveries to date. The explosion forced the company to write off almost 6,000 vehicles.

JLR's total investment spending for the year was £3.14bn.

The company had a strong fourth quarter with sales reaching 158,813 vehicles, up by 28 per cent when compared to the same quarter last year. Profit before Tax for the three-month period was £577m, up £181m.

JLR, which is owned by the Indian conglomerate Tata, plans to invest in the region of £3.75 billion during the current finanical year to support continued, sustainable, profitable growth.This will include the expansion of global production capacity, new technologies and new vehicles, such as the Jaguar F-PACE and the Range Rover Evoque Convertible.

Dr Ralf Speth, Jaguar Land Rover's chief executive, said: "Jaguar Land Rover has produced and sold more cars than at any time in our history. We are now the largest automotive manufacturer in the United Kingdom and our vehicles have received more than 140 awards across the range for design, technology, safety and environmental sustainability."

Dr Speth said it was on track to deliver even more sensational products that would underpin the future performance of the business.

Over the past five years, Jaguar Land Rover has doubled sales and employment, more than tripled turnover, and invested more than £12 billion in new product creation and capital expenditure. It generates more than 80 per cent of its revenue from exports.