VRL Logistics shares plunge 20% on airline plan, Q4 PAT decline

Shares of VRL Logistics hit lower circuit to pluge 20 per cent after the transport and logistics firm said it plans to launch a regional airline.

The stock hit an intraday low of Rs 315.10, down 20 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

The chairman of the firm Vijay Sankeshwar alongwith Managing Director Anand Sankeshwar expressed their intent to enter the new business activity in a letter to the Board of Directors.

"We are currently proposing to enter the civil aviation industry by incorporating a separate company to undertake the business of a regional airline. We have taken this in principle decision after a lot of study and inputs from industry experts," both the promoters said in a letter to the Board of Directors of the company.

They said they intended to promote the new airline and induct a professional management to manage the day to day operations and grow this business.

VRL Logistics is into passenger and goods transportation business besides is a parcel delivery service provider and has also interests in wind power generation and air charter operations.

Its goods transportation fleet includes 3,872 owned vehicles as of March 2016 while passenger transportation fleet includes 381 owned vehicles.

The company on a standalone basis registered a decline in its net profit to Rs 13.21 crore for the March quarter of the last fiscal as against Rs 19.36 crore in the year-ago period.