Concor Expects Strong Volume Growth In FY25 Amid Stabilising Global Factors
Concor has identified key circuits in the domestic market where it can ensure loaded movements in both directions and reduce the running of empty containers.
Container Corp. expects strong growth in both export and domestic volumes in the coming months of the current financial year, Chairperson Sanjay Swarup has said, after the logistics firm posted decent growth in revenue and net profit in the first quarter.
Concor posted a 15% growth in domestic volumes in the June quarter. The company is optimistic about achieving 25–30% growth in the remaining months of the fiscal, Swarup said, pointing to the strong demand in the domestic market.
"We have taken several initiatives in the EXIM (export-import) as well as domestic segments, which are going to pay rich dividends in the coming months," the managing director told NDTV Profit in an interview on Friday.
Concor Q1 FY25 Earnings Highlights (Consolidated, YoY)
Revenue up 9% to Rs 2,103 crore versus Rs 1,923 crore.
Ebitda up 11% to Rs 441 crore.
Margin expands to 20.9% versus 20.6%.
Net profit up 7.4% to Rs 260 crore versus Rs 242 crore.
Despite the steady financials, the real focus of Concor's strategy lies in its projected growth in the EXIM sector. Swarup expressed confidence in the company's ability to meet its full-year guidance of a 15% growth in EXIM volumes and a 25% rise in domestic volumes.
"Q1 is usually like this, but now we are picking up business. On the EXIM front, there were geopolitical constraints impacting business, but they have more or less stabilised," he said. "We are seeing good traction in the India-western world movement, with softening rates and better availability of containers and vessels."
In the coming weeks, we are hopeful that export-import movement from India will pick up.Sanjay Swarup
The CMD said the EXIM continued to provide a strong margin, with a 50-basis-point increase in market share in this sector during the quarter. He explained that Concor identified key circuits in the domestic market where it could ensure loaded movements in both directions, which would reduce the running of empty containers and positively impact the bottom line.
On the impact of higher railway haulage rates, Swarup said the October 2023 increase had been well absorbed by the trade with no adverse effect on margins. "We should be able to maintain good margins since the rates have been absorbed very well."
Swarup outlined Concor's long-term growth plans, which include running double-stack trains as a major driver of EXIM growth. In the June quarter, double-stack train volumes grew 14% annually.
The company also plans to start using double-stack trains for the Nhava Sheva Port and has long-term tieups with shipping companies to secure EXIM volumes. "Running double-stack trains and time-table services between Dadri and Mundra port has shifted a large amount of freight from road to rail and this will likely be a key growth catalyst over the next four–five years."
