Blue Dart benefits from rise of business to consumer demand in India

Indian express air cargo carrier Blue Dart posted a double-digit increase in profits for the quarter ended March 31.
The airline, which is 70% owned by Deutsche Post, recorded a 17% year on year increase in profit after tax for the quarter ended March 31 to R404.9m. Profits for the full financial year ended March 31 increased by 49.7% to R1.9bn.
Revenues for the final quarter of Blue Dart’s financial year were up 10.3% year on year to R6.3bn and for the full year there was an increase of 12.5% to R25.5bn.
Blue Dart managing director Anil Khanna said: "It has been a tumultuous financial year for the express industry and as a business Blue Dart continues to face insurmountable challenges every day.
“However, Blue Dart has displayed a modest performance due to our clear focus on cost rationalisation and efficiency to increase earnings before interest and tax margins even under difficult economic conditions.
“We have aggressively championed the business-to-consumer segment, especially e-tail, without any dilution to the business-to-business sector."

Khanna added: "We will steer our business further through automation & technology enhancement, by strengthening our network and improving our service quality while continuing with our insanely customer centric-culture with the support of our highly enthused and passionate team.”
During the year ended March 31, 2016, Blue Dart handled over 159m domestic shipments, 8.9m international shipments and over 595,623 tonnes of documents and parcels across the nation.
This year it faces competition through the launch of services by Quikjet, which is hoping to capitalise on the growth of India’s e-commerce sector.