Coronavirus: Tata Motors warns of JLR profit hit

Indian automaker Tata Motors has warned of lower profit at its British luxury car brand Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) for the fiscal year as sales in China have taken a hit because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The outbreak has hit JLR's retail sales in China and is expected to lower the luxury carmaker's full year EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) margin, Tata said in a statement.

"Recognizing the present situation is highly uncertain and could change, the reduction in China sales resulting from the coronavirus presently is estimated to reduce Jaguar Land Rover's full year EBIT margin by about 1%," it said.

The coronavirus epidemic, which started in China and is spreading globally, has hurt sales in the world's biggest auto market and also disrupted auto supply chains affecting carmakers in all parts of the world.

Tata Motors warned in January the coronavirus could impact its profit margin forecast of around 3% for the JLR unit for the fiscal year 2020 at a time when it was making progress on a turnaround plan to improve sales in China.

(Reporting by Aditi Shah; editing by David Evans)