Tata Motors Q4 net profit falls

India's top automaker Tata Motors saw its net profit in the fourth fiscal quarter fall 36.7 percent, but still managed to beat forecasts amid shrinking domestic demand, the firm said Wednesday.

Consolidated net profit for Tata Motors, including its Jaguar and Land Rover brands, slipped to 39.45 billion rupees ($704 million) for the three-month period ending in March from 62.34 billion rupees in the same period in 2012.

The company still recorded profits higher than the consensus market forecasts of 28 billion rupees.

Revenues of Tata Motors, part of the giant steel-to-software Tata Group now controlled by new chairman Cyrus Mistry, rose ten percent to 560 billion rupees during the quarter.This was despite a "weak operating environment in the standalone (India) business, which was more than offset by strong demand and growth in volumes" at Jaguar-Land Rover (JLR), the company said in a statement.

MUMBAIMay 29, 2013