Mercator hits oil, again!

Mercator has today breached the upper circuit at Rs.24.50 and it is now at Rs.24.75 with an intra day high of Rs.25.40.

The company announced yesterday after market hours that its arm, Mercator Petroleum Ltd (MPL) had discovered crude oil in the second well of Cambay Basin, India.  The discovery is Mercator's second oil discovery after the recent Jyoti-1 success. It further said that MPL has been awarded 2 oil blocks in Cambay Basin under NELP VII by the government.

The company has said that these oil discoveries coming in quick succession not only substantiate the high prospectively of the area but also provide encouraging and positive inputs for pursuing the exploration program further with identified prospects and leads,.

On the financial front, the company had a dismal Q1FY16 on a consolidated basis. Thanks to its poor performance of the shipping and coal segment, lower sales and high interest outgo pushed the company into the red. The company ended the quarter with a consolidated net loss of Rs.35 crore v/s loss of Rs.12 crore in previous Q1. Net sales were down 5% (YoY) at Rs.718 crore. Costs had come down 4% led by 11% drop in bunker charges, 36% drop in vessel hire cost, 25% decline on coal operation costs. Yet this was not enough to make up for the massive interest outgo at Rs.60 crore, which is over 8% of revenue earned. Operating profit came in at Rs.127 crore, down 7% and margins remained steady at 18%. There was also a forex gain of Rs.8 crore. Yet, all this could not help the company end the quarter in the black.

In terms of segments, Shipping showed a loss of Rs.36 crore at the EBIT level and coal showed a 28% drop in EBIT. Only offshore did well, showing a 15% rise in EBIT