- Pre‑tax profits of £534 million in Q4 and £662 million for the full year before exceptional charges
- Reimagine strategy announced in February to deliver double‑digit EBIT margins by Fiscal 2025/26 entails £1.5 billion exceptional charges in Q4
- EBIT margin grows to 7.5% in Q4 and 2.6% for the full year
- Improving profitability reflects recovering volumes (although down in the full year due to Covid‑19) along with favourable mix, cost performance and foreign exchange
- Revenue up 20.5% to £6.5 billion in Q4 (FY: £19.7 billion) led by strong sales in China and global sales of new Land Rover Defender
- Charge+ programme delivers Q4 cost and cash flow savings of £332 million, lifting full year savings to £2.5 billion and lifetime total to £6.0 billion
- Positive free cash flow of £729 million generated in Q4; £185 million in the full year
- Strong liquidity of £6.7 billion at 31 March 2021, with £4.8 billion of cash and £1.9 billion undrawn credit facility
Whitley, UK, 18 May 2021: Jaguar Land Rover Automotive plc today reported strong underlying profitability and cash flow for the three months to 31 March 2021 (Fiscal Q4), and solid results for the full year.
The business continued to recover following the onset of the Covid‑19 pandemic and retail sales in the fourth quarter were 123,483 vehicles, up 12.4% year‑on‑year. This was supported by a strong recovery in China, where sales grew 127% over Q4 last year, when the impact of Covid‑19 peaked in that market. Full year retails of 439,588 vehicles were still down 13.6%, although sales in China increased 23.4% year‑on‑year. The award‑winning new Land Rover Defender contributed significantly to retail sales, with 16,963 units sold in Q4 and 45,244 units for the full year.
Pre‑tax profit before exceptional charges increased significantly to £534 million in Fiscal Q4 and £662 million for the full year, reversing losses in the same periods a year ago which were impacted by the start of the pandemic. The EBIT margin improved to 7.5% in Q4 and 2.6% for the full year, up 10.7 and 2.5 points respectively year‑on‑year. The improving performance mainly reflects recovering volumes, and favourable mix, cost performance (including lower marketing spend) and foreign exchange.
In February 2021 the company announced its new global strategy to Reimagine the future of modern luxury by design and deliver double‑digit EBIT margins by Fiscal 2025/26. As previously communicated, this will entail £1.5 billion of exceptional charges in the fourth quarter, including £952 million of non‑cash write downs of prior investments and £534 million of restructuring charges expected to be paid in Fiscal 2021/22. After these exceptional charges, the company reported a pre‑tax loss of £952 million for the quarter and £861 million for the full year.
Free cash flow of £729 million was generated in Q4 to achieve positive free cash flow of £185 million, after investment spending of £2.3 billion, for the full year. Cash flow for Q2 to Q4 totalled £1.8 billion to more than offset the £1.6 billion cash outflow in Q1 when Jaguar Land Rover’s plants were closed for two months due to Covid.
Der Gewinn vor Steuern und außergewöhnlichen Aufwendungen stieg signifikant auf £534 Millionen in Q4 und £622 Millionen für das volle Jahr – ein klarer Turnaround im Vergleich zum vierten Quartal des Vorjahres, das vom Ausbruch der Pandemie überschattet war. Die EBIT‑Marge verbesserte sich in Q4 auf 7,5 Prozent und für das ganze Jahr auf 2,6 Prozent – ein Plus von 10,7 beziehungsweise 2,5 Punkten im Vergleich zum FY 2019/2020. Die verbesserte Performance spiegelt in erster Linie die sich erholenden Absätze mit vorteilhaftem Modell‑Mix sowie optimierte Kosten (darunter niedrigere Marketing Ausgaben) und günstige Währungskurse wider.
Im Februar 2021 gab das Unternehmen seine neue globale Reimagine Strategie bekannt. Sie definiert die Zukunft des modernen Luxus „by Design“ und setzt sich zum Ziel, zum Fiskaljahr 2025/26 zweistellige EBIT‑Margen zu erzielen. Wie bereits kommuniziert, beinhaltet dies für das vierte Quartal Sonderausgaben in Höhe von £1,5 Milliarden, darunter £952 Millionen nicht‑liquiditätswirksame Abschreibungen auf frühere Investitionen und £534 Millionen für Restrukturierungsaufwendungen, deren Zahlung für das Geschäftsjahr 2021/22 erwartet wird. Nach diesen außergewöhnlichen Aufwendungen meldet das Unternehmen einen Verlust vor Steuern in Höhe von £952 Millionen für Quartal 4 und £861 Millionen für das ganze Jahr.
Profit and cash improvements from Charge+ in the quarter totalled over £332 million, including £155 million of cost efficiencies and a £177 million reduction in investment spending. This brings Charge+ savings to £2.5 billion in Fiscal 2020/21 and £6.0 billion since the programme was launched in September 2018, substantially exceeding the initial targets set.
Jaguar Land Rover ended the year with total cash and short‑term investments of £4.8 billion, resulting in total liquidity of £6.7 billion including a £1.9 billion undrawn revolving credit facility (RCF), which runs to July 2022. Jaguar Land Rover has also completed an extension for £1.31 billion of the RCF to March 2024.
During the year, Jaguar Land Rover successfully launched its exciting new range of 21 Model Year vehicles, incorporating the very latest technologies. Twelve of the company’s models now have an electrified option, contributing to 62% of sales, including 8 plug‑in hybrids, 11 mild hybrids and the all‑electric Jaguar I‑PACE.
The increasing Covid vaccination rates are encouraging for the ultimate recovery of the global economy and automotive industry from the effects of the pandemic. However, cases are still high in many markets while supply chain issues, in particular for semi‑conductors, have become more difficult to mitigate and are now impacting production plans for Q1. The company is working closely with affected suppliers to resolve the issues and minimise the effect on customers.
For Fiscal 2021/22, Jaguar Land Rover expects sales to continue to recover. The company is still targeting an EBIT margin of at least 4.0% and break‑even free cash flow after c.£2.5 billion of investment and c.£0.5 billion of restructuring costs that have already been accrued.
We are pleased to have been able to continue to generate improved cash flow and profitability in Q4, despite the ongoing challenges of Covid‑19 on both retailers and the supply chain. It was particularly satisfying to achieve a 7.5% EBIT margin in Q4 and positive cash flow for the full year. The strengthened performance reflects the success of our efforts to improve quality of sales and the cost structure of the business, as well as a focus on driving cash flow through Project Charge+.
Adrian Mardell
Jaguar Land Rover Chief Financial Officer
Die Gewinn‑ und Cash‑Steigerungen aus Charge+ beziffern sich im vierten Quartal auf insgesamt über £332 Millionen, wovon £115 Millionen auf Kosteneffizienz und £177 Millionen auf verringerte Investitionen zurückzuführen sind. Das führt im FY 2020/21 zu Einsparungen durch Charge+ von £2,5 Milliarden sowie zu £6,0 Milliarden seit Einführung des Programms im September 2018 – was die anfänglichen Ziele deutlich übertrifft.
Jaguar Land Rover schließt das Jahr mit Cash‑ und kurzfristigen Investitionen in Höhe von £4,8 Milliarden ab. Daraus ergibt sich eine Gesamtliquidität von £6,7 Milliarden, inkludiert darin eine nicht gezogene revolvierende Kreditfazilität (RCF) von £1,9 Milliarden, die bis Juli 2022 geht. Jaguar Land Rover hat zudem eine bis März 2024 laufende Erweiterung der RCF auf £1,31 Milliarden abgeschlossen.
Im Laufe des Jahres hat Jaguar Land Rover erfolgreich die neuen Baureihen des Modelljahres 2021 eingeführt, ausgerüstet mit den neuesten Technologien. Zwölf Modelle verfügen nun über eine elektrifizierte Antriebsvariante. Auf die acht Plug‑in‑Hybride, elf Mild‑Hybride und den komplett elektrischen Jaguar I‑PACE entfallen 62 Prozent aller Neuwagenverkäufe.
Die schnell steigende Covid‑Impfrate ist ein ermutigendes Zeichen dafür, dass sich die Weltwirtschaft und mit ihr die Automobilindustrie von den Effekten der Pandemie endgültig erholen wird. Dennoch bleibt die Situation in vielen Märkten angespannt. Probleme in der Zulieferkette, speziell die Lieferung von Halbleitern und Chips, sind nicht einfach zu beheben und beginnen bereits Einfluss auf die Produktionspläne für das erste Quartal zu nehmen. Das Unternehmen arbeitet eng mit betroffenen Zulieferern zusammen, um die Probleme zu lösen und die Effekte auf die Kunden zu minimieren.
Für das Geschäftsjahr 2021/22 erwartet Jaguar Land Rover eine weitere Erholung der Verkäufe. Das Unternehmen zielt weiter auf eine EBIT‑Marge von mindestens 4,0 Prozent und einen Break‑even freien Cash Flow. Nach Investitionen von £2,5 Milliarden und circa £0,5 Milliarden Restrukturierungskosten, die bereits aufgelaufen sind.
In my first set of full‑year results as CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, I have been encouraged by the company’s resilience and strong recovery during a uniquely challenging year. Despite the pandemic, this year has also seen significant positive change culminating in February with the launch of our Reimagine strategy focused on reimagining our iconic British brands for a future of modern luxury by design.
Our strategy is ambitious and it will make us more agile, efficient and sustainable. Although it is still early days, we have made significant progress in implementing it. This has reaffirmed my confidence that we have the right strategy, the right people and the right product‑plans to deliver against our targets. Jaguar Land Rover is well placed to emerge from the pandemic as a stronger and more resilient company that is able to navigate and capitalise on the opportunities ahead.