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TATA MOTORS LIMITED

Long Term Finance

Contents
Background Balance sheet Analysis Financial Analysis of Tata Motors Theoretical Relevance Criticism Conclusion References Appendix

Annexure 1 - Ratan Tatas letter to the Tata Group

Annexure 2 - Ratan Tatas letter to the Tata Group (part 2)

Annexure 3 - Summarized Balance Sheet of Tata Motors

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Brief Background
The largest passenger automobile and commercial vehicle manufacturing company of India Tata Motors Limited, was formerly called TELCO (TATA Engineering and Locomotive Company), has its headquarters in Bombay, now Mumbai, India. Established in 1945, listed on the New York Stock

Exchange in 2004 has created Rs. 320 billion wealth and was one of the top 10 wealth creators in India, With manufacturing facilities in the towns of Jamshedpur, Lucknow, and Pune. This company was founded by Jamshetji Tata and is run by Ratan Tata under the flagship company known as Tata and sons group. He commands 22000 employees working in three plants as well as other regional and zonal offices across the length and breadth of India. Tata motors passenger cars still need to r each acceptable international requirements. The company commands an imposing 65% share of the domestic commercial vehicle market and is trying to modernize this segment. The financial business of Tata motors was separated into a subsidiary company in sep. 2006, where it recorded a strong financial performance during the last 5 year period. From year 2003-2007, the profits of the company went up at a CAGR of 36.4%, to attain Rs. 331, 525 million in 2007 from Rs. 95, 731 Million in 2003. By floating two rights issues at the end of Sep 2008 Tata Motors Ltd expected to raise Rs 4, 150 crores. They are offering one ordinary share valued at Rs. 340 every six shares expecting to net Rs. 2.90 Crores, the so called A share would have different voting and dividend rights, for every such 6 shares held at a face value of 305 would raise Rs. 1.960 Crores, these proceed would be utilized for an early repayment of the short term funding of 2.3 Billion $ (Rs. 10,189 Crores) Borrowed for Acquisition of jaguar and Land Rover from their principle The Ford Motor Companies. It is also in talks with private equity funds to offload 25% of stake in each of the following 6 unlisted group units, they are Tata Daewoo commercial vehicle company, HV transmissions, Tata motors finance, Tata technologies and TELCO construction equipment, the sales of the stakes would possible conclude by June 2009, helping it to raise further funds for this acquisition, earlier in July it sold 24% stake in an Auto component unit to a group firm and booked a profit of Rs. 110 crores, it also sold 10 million shares or 1.36% of Tata steel for RS. 486 crores to Tata Sons, the holding company of whole Tata group firms. "The Company aims to monetize a part of its funds through a phased divestment of certain

investments preferably as inter-group sales wherever possible at current market prices in the
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coming six to eight months," the money that will be released from these investments will become a part of the capital to be lifted for repayment of the bridging loan taken for the JaguarLand Rover acquisition. Taken in March 2008" (Tata Motors Profile) It took a 15 month bridge loan of 3 billion in March from a consortium of banks to finance the JLR accusation and its expansion plans Since the rights issue was announced on 28th may its share value has fallen more than 30% and fell by 1.82% to Rs. 429.85 on BSE, even though the bench mark index gained 3.8% to end at 15, 049.86 points. The Analysts say that, this is a strategic move taken by Tata Motors because it is allowing the company to make a lot of profit even when the market is in the financial pressure allows Tata sons to raise its wager in group companies. If the company will follow the above mentioned trends then possibly it can raise its finances in a low liquidity and high interest rate set-up.

Balance Sheet Analysis

(Ref. to Annexure 3) From the above statement it is seems that the company has become highly geared year after year. To substantiate this, the net current asset which is a representation of their long term debit is on the increase (Rs. 27,203.30 million In 2006, Rs. 40,235.10 million in 2007, and Rs. 58,792.80 million In 2008) this forms a lower percentage of the total debit (when short term debit and capital cases are added) the company is perhaps aware of the results that may effect the interest on the total equity and rather have a preference for short term loans as the environment dictate, hence, increasing the total equity year by year. For long term financial plan and expansion of the new product (Nano) Tata has decided to raise funds from the stock market rather than going for a loan option (GEARING). This is because in the past heavy amounts were gained as interest on loans which have a negative effect on the profit and returns to the stake holders. To support my analysis in financial year 2006, Rs. 36,641 million loan was taken, and in the year 2007, Rs. 79,137 million loan was taken, And also the companies net profit margins have gone down abruptly from 6.8% in 2005 to 5.6% in 2007, most probably because of the rising cost of the raw material used by the

Net interest expense increased 37.7% y-o-y to Rs.1123.3 mn in Q1 FY09, compared to Rs.815.6 mn due to rising interest rates and higher debt. However, the interest expense as a % of net sales increased marginally from 1.3% in Q1 FY08 to 1.6% in Q1 FY09.

Tax rate for first quarter declined substantially and stood at 5.5% as compared to 21.2% for same period last year, on account of large dividends received by Company on its Investments/Subsidiaries which are not taxable in the hands of the Company and weighted deductions available on R&D expenditure.

As on 30th June08, the balance sheet size of the Company was Rs. 183.98 bn as compared to Rs 150.96 bn as on 31st March08. Net of vehicle financing loans and receivables the Companys capital employed was Rs 178.33 bn as on 30th June08 against Rs.135.76 bn as on 31st March08.

As on 30th June08, 385.62 mn shares (Face value Rs.10) were outstanding on the balance sheet of Tata Motors.

The Gross total debt (inc. FCCNs) stood Rs 94.97 bn as on 30th June08 as compared to Rs. 62.8 bn as on 31st March08. The Companys Net Debt (Net of the surplus investible funds) stood at Rs 89.3 bn as on 30th June08. As on 30th June08, the Companys net debt to equity ratio stood at 1.12:1.

Up to June 30th, 2008, 99.94% of the 1% convertible Notes (due 2008) and 97.09% of the Zero coupon Convertible Notes (due 2009) have been converted into Ordinary Shares / ADSs. There have been no conversions of the other FCCNs issued by the Company.

The Companys Balance Sheet includes Receivables and loans of Rs. 27.94 bn on account of vehicle financing business as on 30th June, 2008.

The Company had an investible surplus of around Rs. 5.65 bn as on 30th June, 2008.

Theoretical Relevance of Tata Motorss long term financial behavior

As per the Trade off theory, the marginal cost and benefit of debt in determining the best financial structure of a company is considered, at most considerate liability percentage, a companies market value is brought up and the companies whose liability percentage diverge from the best possible can increase their price by bringing their liability percentage towards the target. (European Journal of Economics)
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The pecking order theory is based on the idea of asymmetric information between managers and investors. A company increases its debits by issuing new equities to finance new projects because if not done the same way then and new investors are brought into consideration then the new Investors will make most of the profit which is the net present value (NPV) of that particular project which will cause lose to the present share holders. To avoid this most of the firms tend to finance their new projects using a security that is not undervalued in the market, which can be internal funds or some other less dangerous debt securities. Therefore, this is what affects the choice between internal and external financing. (European Journal of Economics) The M&M theory is a theory of capital structure which explains that a companys market price is definite by its earning power and by the basic risk of its resources, the three most important ways of funding, they are issuing shares, borrowing and retaining profits As opposed to dispersing them to shareholders in dividends (Modigliani-Miller Theorem - M&M) This theory also says that if there are no taxes, bankruptcy costs, and asymmetric information, in an efficient market then a companys value becomes solid for finance by its sources. It makes no difference how the companys funds are increased either by issuing stock or by selling debt and neither matters the dividend policy of the company. (Modigliani-Miller Theorem - M&M) Therefore, According to the above composed data the Tata motors raised funds from NYSE in 2004, and then from Bombay stock Exchange, Private Equity Funds, Sale of Stakes, Inter-Group Sales and Bridge loans, so, this is in accordance to the pecking order theory which says that a company increases its debits by issuing new equities to finance new projects because if not done the same way then and new investors are brought into consideration then the new Investors will make most of the profit which is the net present value (NPV) of that particular project which will cause lose to the present share holders. To keep away from this situation most of the firms tend to finance their new projects using a security that is not undervalued in the market, which can be internal funds or some other less dangerous debt securities. Therefore, this is what affects the choice between internal and external financing. (Refer to the above paragraph).

Hence, the pecking order theory explains the need of the firms to rely on the internal sources of the company for finances and also explains why the companies prefer debt to equity if external financing is required.

Theory Criticized
The pecking order theory in practice do have some factors that make its perfection uncertain, to start with
Flannery and Rangan (2006) could not find any evidence for the Pecking order theory. Also Frank and Goyal (2003) could not find any constancy with the pecking order Theory, especially for small companies

but found it relevant for those companies that are already established. The pecking order model predicts a symmetric behavior for firms with financing deficit (shortage of internal sources of funds) or financing surplus (excess of internal sources of funds). In other words, firms with financing deficit issue debt to finance their new investment, whereas firms with financing surplus end up retiring debt rather than repurchasing equity
(Shyam-Sunder and Myers, 1999). While as according to the partial adjustment model, firms

adjust toward their optimum level of debt (target leverage) with the same rate regardless if they are above or below the target. This implies that the cost and benefit of being above the target leverage is identical to the one of being below the target. However, the trade-off theory does not predict such a behavior. Neous coefficient assumption. The partial adjustment model employed to examine the trade-off theory assumes that firms across industries adjust toward their target capital structure with the same rate. Such an assumption ignores the fact that there are significant differences in the characteristics of different industries that affect the rate of adjustment. The pecking order model assumes that the distribution

Conclusion
After studying the relevant capital structure theories available for my research for the long term finance mix of a company, I have come to the conclusion that the Pecking Order Theory is the most appropriate to describe the long term financial behavior of Tata Motors, because its explanation towards the behavior of a company in accordance to its finance is also being applied by Tata Motors to overcome there financial crises situation. In my conclusion I will also add the measures to be taken by Tata Motors to improve its long term financial management as quoted by directive given by Ratan Tata to his companies:

The conservation of cash to the maximum extent possible

Draw down all loans/ lines of credits from banks and institutions to the maximum extent possible

Expeditious finalize pending loan and funding agreements, even if they involve accepting higher interest rates. The Company should also take some major steps to:

Improve operational efficiency

Aggressively implement restructuring of internal cost frame work

Drastically reduce operating expenditure

Defer non essential capital expenditure and capacity expansion

Put on hold any plans for acquisitions unless considered strategically critical. (refer to
annexure 1 & 2)

With these recommendations it is expected that the Company would be more efficiently long term financially managed. And would tide over the present recessionary trends in the Automobile Market.

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References

European Journal of Economics, 2008. Finance and Administrative Science. (online)

ISSN 1450-2275 Issue 11

<http://www.eurojournalsn.com> [Assessed 13 Nov 2008]

February 19, 2008. Edition Motley Caps Fool (Blog by Imperial1964) (online) <http://caps.fool.com/Blogs/ViewPost.aspx?bpid=35355&t=01004293322569561287> [Assessed 13 Nov 2008]

Flannery, M., and K. Rangan, 2006, Partial Adjustment towards Target Capital Structures, Journal of Financial Economics 79, 459-506 [Assessed 12 Nov 2008]

Frank, M. and V. Goyal, 2003, Testing the Pecking Order Theory of Capital Structure, [Assessed 15/11/08]

India Private Equity, Sat 27 Sep 2008 < www.indiape.com> [Assessed 13 Nov 2008]

Investoperdia A Forbes digital company, (Online) Modigliani-Miller Theorem - M&M <http://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/modigliani-millertheorem.asp> [Assessed 12 Nov 2008]

Lemmon, M. and J. Zender, (2004), Journal of Financial Economics 67, 217-248. Debt Capacity and Tests of Capital Structure Theories Working Paper, University of Utah [Assessed 15/11/08]

Lounge, Tue, Sep 2 2008 by Reuters <http://www.livemint.com/2008/09/03002452/Tata-Motors-to-raise-funds-to.html> [Assessed 15/11/08]

Ratan Tata, 6-11- 2008, all GCC Members and MDs/CEOs of Tata companies.

Richard S. Chang, 16 Nov 08 The New York Times, [Assessed 10/11/08]

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Tata motors Profile (online) <http://www.tatamotors.com/our_world/profile.php> [Assessed 12/11/ 2008]

Tata motors financial review (online Google publication PDF) [Assessed 10/11/08]

Thomson Reuters, 2008, Financial Statements Google finance, <www.finance.google.com> [Accessed 8/11/2008].

Vipin V. Nair , 12/1/2008, lounge Bloomberg (corporate news, online edition) [Assessed 15/11/08]