“We wish to inform you that Mr Thierry Bolloré, Non-Executive Non-Independent Director of Tata Motors Limited (the Company) has tendered his resignation w.e.f. December 31, 2022," Tata Motors said in a BSE filing.
"Taking over from today as Interim CEO at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will be Adrian Mardell," it added.
Mardell has been part of JLR for 32 years and is a member of the Executive Board for three years.
Bollore had taken over in September 2020 from Ralf Speth. The JLR CEO had promised investors of delivering double-digit EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) margin, become one of the world’s most profitable luxury manufacturers and make the company net zero carbon by 2039.
A former CEO of Groupe Renault, Bolloré has extensive expertise in the automotive business including senior position at global automotive supplier Faurecia.
Tata Motors core earnings fail to impress
Tata Motors posted a narrowed net loss for the September quarter (Q2FY23) and said its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 53% year-over-year.
However, brokerage Jefferies said the firm's EBITDA came in 14% below its estimate, while Emkay Research and Motilal Oswal also said the number missed their estimates.
"Tata Motors' performance was an all-around miss," Motilal Oswal analyst Jinesh Gandhi wrote in a note. "Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) continues to struggle with semiconductor shortages, which has been impacting its performance for the last five-to-six quarters."
Analysts also trimmed their earnings estimates on the firm saying it would face cost pressures. Motilal Oswal was among the most aggressive, now expecting Tata to post a loss this fiscal, compared with its earlier forecast of a profit.
Tata Motors still expects cash flow to bounce back in the second half, thanks to healthy demand for its Jaguar Land Rover cars and a drop in domestic steel costs.
The current average rating of 30 analysts covering the stock is "buy" and the median price target is 512 rupees, as per data from Refinitiv.
On Thursday, shares of Tata Motors fell 1.41% to close at ₹431.00 apiece on the NSE.
With agency inputs
