Blue Dart Express soars 16% on robust September quarter results

Shares of Blue Dart Express soared 16 per cent to Rs 3,766, also its 52-week high on the BSE, in intra-day trade on Friday after the company reported nearly three-fold jump in profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 41.4 crore in the September quarter (Q2FY21). South Asia’s premier air and integrated transportation and distribution company had a profit of Rs 14 crore in the year-ago quarter.

The stock surpassed its previous high of Rs 3,350, touched on October 1, 2020. At 11:51 am, it was trading 11 per cent higher at Rs 3,607 on the BSE, as compared to a 0.73 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex.

The company’s revenue from operations grew 8 per cent year-on-year (YoY) at Rs 867 crore, while net freight, handling, and servicing costs declined 8 per cent YoY to Rs 387 crore during the quarter. In Q2FY21, Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) margins improved to 26.37 per cent from 15.76 per cent in Q2FY20.

Blue Dart Express said it has paid a one-time ex-gratia of Rs 26,238 to each Blue Darter (excluding senior management) in September 2020. This one-time ex-gratia had an impact of Rs 34.2 crore during the quarter.

In the past three months, the stock has rallied 75 per cent, against a 4.5 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. Last month, Blue Dart announced a 9.6 per cent hike in its average shipment price from January next year to offset higher costs. The price increase, however, will not be applicable to customers signing up with the company between October 1 and December 31, 2020, Blue Dart Express said in a release.

The upward revision in prices is part of the annual exercise undertaken to adjust inflation, fluctuation in currency, and fuel price, among others, it said. As per the General Price Increase (GPI), effective January 1, 2021, the average shipment price increase will be 9.6 per cent as compared to 2020, depending on the shipping profile, Blue Dart said.