JLR lost more than half a billion pounds in the three months to 30 September, as the devastating effects of a cyber attack weighed heavily on its financial performance.
The attack halted production across JLR’s plants for five weeks from 2 September, and the resulting loss of revenue ended a run of 11 straight profitable quarters for the company.
JLR posted a loss of £547 million for the quarter, of which £196m was a direct result of the hack. JLR didn’t say whether any of that amount was paid as a ransom to the hackers.
Production has now returned to normal levels after a quarter that was “impacted by significant challenges”, outgoing CEO Adrian Mardell said in a statement.
“The speed of recovery is testament to the resilience and hard work of our colleagues,” he added.
Revenue from sales fell by £2bn to £4.9bn after sales slumped by nearly a quarter in the quarter. Car sales to dealers fell by 21,138 in the quarter to 66,165.
Other financial headwinds faced by JLR include increased tariffs to sell in its biggest market of the US.
UK-built cars exported to the US now incur 10% duty, up from 2.5% previously, while Slovakian-built Defenders and Discoverys face 15% duty.
JLR also noted a £42m cost of a voluntary redundancy programme in the quarter, as well as higher variable marketing expenses (discounts).
Profit margins this financial year will land at between 0% and 2%, the company has forecast.
The reduction in revenue also reflects the ending of Jaguar sales ahead of the brand's reinvention of an upmarket electric car maker, starting with the delayed Type 00 GT.
JLR said it had used the production downtime to prepare its factories for new models, including vehicles based on the EMA EV platform, to be made at Halewood.
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