MUMBAI, May 29 —Tata Motors Ltd., India’s biggest automaker, posted profit that missed analyst estimates as a wider-than-expected loss at the local business eroded gains from its Jaguar Land Rover unit.

Net income declined to 39.2 billion rupees (RM2.14 billion) in the fourth quarter ended March, the Mumbai-based company said today. That lagged behind the 46.1 billion-rupee median of 30 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Jaguar Land Rover profit increased to £449 million (RM2.4 billion) from £377 million, it said.

The luxury unit is helping buoy the company, which is struggling to revive profitability of the Indian business. Deliveries of cars, trucks and buses at home declined 36 per cent in the quarter, while sales gained 8 per cent at Jaguar Land Rover spurred by demand in China.

“I’m not expecting any miracles from the domestic business of Tata Motors,” Alex Mathews, head of research at Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services Ltd., said before the earnings announcement. “The domestic business has slipped a lot and will continue to underperform for the next one or two quarters.”

The loss at the standalone level widened to 8.17 billion rupees.

Tata Motors fell 1 per cent to 424.30 rupees at the close in Mumbai trading, before the earnings were announced. The stock has climbed 13 per cent this year, compared with a 14 per cent advance for the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex Index. — Bloomberg