Blue Dart reports record 52 pc growth in standalone Q4FY22 PAT at Rs 1,354 million

The company's PAT stood at Rs 3,764 million for the financial year ended March 31, 2022, up 290.9 percent compared to Rs 963 million for the financial year ended March 31, 2021.

Revenue from operations for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, stood at Rs 11,659 million and Rs 44,090 million for the year ended March 31, 2022.

"The company delivered one of the strongest performances in the recent past. Topline grew by 21 percent with a healthy mix of volume growth and realization improvement despite challenging geopolitical scenario," Blue Dart said.

EBITDA for the quarter is Rs 2,264 million, a growth of 25.7 percent over Rs 1801 million recorded last year.

EBITDA margin also improved to 19.4 percent as compared to the previous year at 18.6 percent.

Revenues for the financial year 2021-22 stood at Rs 44,090 million with a growth of 34 percent over the previous year.

Full-year EBITDA stood at Rs 6,963 million with a growth of 92 percent over the previous year.

International Charters which were initiated during the pandemic last year continued to support the company's revenues in the current financial year, the company said.

Healthy top-line growth with better realization, continued cost efficiency program and financial re-engineering helped the company to improve margin during the quarter as well as the financial year 2021-22 despite the challenging geopolitical situation.

"Further, the company is continuing its journey of automation and digitalization to improve speed, transparency, and efficiency," the logistics major added.

"Blue Dart has once again proven its mettle, standing strong and supporting the nation as its Trade Facilitator," the Mumbai-based company said.

The Board of Directors has recommended a total dividend of Rs 60 per share (600 percent) to the shareholders of the company for the financial year 2021-22.

Since the company has already paid an interim dividend of Rs 25 (250 percent) per share in February 2022, the Proposed Final dividend of Rs 35 (350 percent) per share would be paid to the shareholders of the company subject to the approval in the Annual General Meeting.

With improved receivables management and cash flows, the company together with its wholly-owned subsidiaries paid off all borrowings from banks which not only reduced finance costs but also became debt-free.

The government’s focus on improving infrastructure through PM Gati Shakti- National Master Plan for Multimodal connectivity, dedicated freight corridors, logistics parks, economic zones, dedicated rail corridors, and waterways are expected to smoothen the movement of goods, the company said.

Further, the PLI schemes under the government's vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat to various sectors is likely to give a boost to economic activities.

All these initiatives are expected to boost the overall economic scenario in the country.

The company is gearing up to enhance its air capacity and ground infrastructure to handle higher volume and encash growth opportunities.

During the year under review, the company once again rewarded its employees with an additional Bonus (Covid Bonus) of Euro 300 in recognition of their efforts during the pandemic.

On the back of superior customer experience led by best in class service quality, the company witnessed healthy volume growth and carried 264 million (last year 186  million) shipments comprising 932,690  tonnes (last year 718,521 tonnes) during the year.

Balfour Manuel, Managing Director, Blue Dart said, “Throughout the year, we have shown outstanding resilience, responsiveness and reliability for all our stakeholders which is mirrored in our Q4 and year-end financial performance. Our focus on remaining customer-first, investing in our technology capabilities and thus, remaining agile in a VUCA environment, has helped the company improve its margins.

"FY2021-22 has been a rewarding year. Across parameters, Blue Dart has once again embodied our vision in ‘Connecting People, Improving Lives’. We have been recognised as a Top Employer, a Great Place to Work as well as one of the Best Workplaces for Women.

"We stood strong, supporting our customers for all their logistics requirements. From delivering shipments to COVID-care hospitals to accelerating innovation to new heights, we have left no stone unturned in fulfilling our duty as the Trade Facilitator to the nation.”

Commenting on the future outlook, he says, “We plan on expanding our ground and air express capacity which will only propel our service quality to new heights. We continue to remain an insanely customer-centric organization and therefore, innovation to deliver excellence at every touchpoint continues to remain a major priority.

"The Blue Dart Med-Express Consortium is a prime example of our ability to leverage technology to our benefit; going forward we will continue to invest in digitalization ensuring that in the case of another unprecedented event such as the pandemic, supply chain continuity will not be disrupted.”

"Blue Dart aims to achieve Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050 under the group’s ‘Mission 2050’ goal, wherein, the organization aims to limit global warming to less than 2ºC and drive the business towards zero emissions logistics, thus, setting the standard for the future of the logistics sector and doing its part to help the world," the company said in a statement.

Under the Mission 2050 initiative, for over four years, Blue Dart has contributed to over 10 percent of the Deutsche Post DHL Group’s global target of planting 1 million trees every year, it added.

The company’s goal was to increase CO2 efficiency by 10 percent by the year 2012 and 30 percent by the year 2020.

Against the 30 percent target, Blue Dart has achieved a 34 percent CO2 efficiency in 2021.