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Informist, Wednesday, May 21, 2025

By Shakshi Jain

MUMBAI – State-owned Container Corp. of India Ltd. is expected to report steady earnings for the March quarter on the back of higher growth in cargo volumes. Weaker pricing trends amid increased competition likely kept revenue growth below the volume growth, though net profit growth is likely to outpace the volume growth, analysts said.

The public sector enterprise is expected to report a net profit of INR 3.56 billion for the March quarter, according to the average of estimates from five brokerages. This means a nearly 21% on-year  rise in its bottom line and around 4% growth sequentially. The highest estimate for net profit is INR 3.98 billion from Elara Securities and the lowest is INR 3.27 billion by Nuvama Institutional Equities.

In the year-ago quarter, the company's net profit had grown nearly 6% on year to INR 2.95 billion. Its revenue had risen 7% to INR 23.18 billion in that quarter.

The Navratna company is expected to post revenues of INR 24.44 billion for the March quarter, up over 5% on year and nearly 11% sequentially. The highest estimate for revenue is INR 26.64 billion by Nuvama and the lowest is INR 22.67 billion by Kotak Institutional Equities.

Last month, Container Corp. reported a total volume of 1.35 million twenty-foot equivalent units for the March quarter, up 8.3% on year. This was led by a nearly 12% on-year rise in its export and import volumes to 1.05 million TEUs during the quarter. The domestic volume handled by the company in the same period declined 2.7% on year to 302,453 TEUs.

Analysts expect the company to report earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation of INR 5.32 billion for the March quarter. The highest estimate for EBITDA is INR 5.70 billion by Elara Securities and the lowest is INR 4.85 billion by Kotak Equities.

Kotak Equities estimates a 140-basis-point on-year decline in the company's EBITDA margin for the March quarter on weaker pricing amid higher competition. The competitive intensity has increased in the domestic segment and within select pockets of the export-import segment, the brokerage said. In contrast, Motilal Oswal Financial Services estimates a 130 bps improvement in the company's EBITDA margin on a year-on-year basis to 22.4%.

The company will announce its earnings for the March quarter on Thursday. Investors will keenly watch the management's commentary on export-import trade, commissioning of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, and the government's plans for divestment of stake in the company. They will also keep an eye out for updates on the company's market share across regions, capital expenditure plans, and land licence fee provisioning.

At 1241 IST, shares of the company traded at INR 726.40 on the National Stock Exchange, largely unchanged from the previous day's close. It is down 4% from its closing price on Jan. 30, when the company reported its results for the December quarter. The stock is down over 38% from its 52-week high of INR 1,180. 

Of the five research reports on the stock available with Informist, four have a 'buy' or equivalent rating on Container Corp., while one has a 'hold' rating. The average target price of the ‘buy' recommendations is INR 992.

Following are the Jan-Mar earnings estimates for CONCOR based on reports from five brokerage firms in descending order by the estimate of net profit (in INR million):

End

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

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