Two of India’s leading express companies, Blue Dart and Gati, saw diverging fortunes in the April – June first quarter of their 2015/16 fiscal year.
Air express operator Blue Dart Express, which is 75% owned by DHL, increased Q1 revenues by nearly 18% to Rs 6,200 million (€88.2 million) while net profits soared by 33% to Rs 456 million (€6.5 million).
The company also said it now owns 74% of airline unit Blue Dart Aviation after buying more than 5 million shares during the quarter to raise its holding from 49% to 70% and then acquiring more shares on July 29 to reach 74%.
Anil Khanna, Managing Director, Blue Dart Express Limited said, "The macroeconomic environment continues to be sluggish, which has further stifled the growth of our industry. Despite this, we have worked on constant innovation by strengthening our product portfolio to serve our customers with solutions that match up to meet their dynamic and evolving business needs. We are committed to serve Blue Dart country and sustain our leadership position in the air and ground express segments through the widest range of innovative products and services, dedicated air and ground infrastructure, superior technology and passionate people force".
Meanwhile, rival Gati, which specialises mostly in road transport, saw its net profits drop 32% to Rs 78 million (€1.1m) in the first quarter despite a revenue increase to Rs 4,162 million (€59m) from Rs 3,970 million one year previously, driven by e-commerce growth.
The Gati e-Connect unit continued to grow fast, doubling revenues of Rs 450 million thanks to new customers, and it aims to more than double capacity to 90,000 packages a day in the future through new e-commerce sorting centres across its network.
The core B2B express business, operated through the Gati Kintetsu joint venture, increased its B2B revenues by 5% to Rs 2,860 million while volumes were up by 6.7%, and it made a net profit of Rs 74 million.
Gati CEO Mahendra Agarwal said: “In the months ahead, our economy is poised for an upward momentum due to the infrastructure push by the government, and the positive signals emanating from businesses across sectors. Riding on this positive trend, the logistics industry, being the backbone of our economy, will see greater acceleration in growth, as the year unfolds.”
