Delhivery Allots 8.2 Lakh Shares Under ESOPs Amid 'Muted' Q3 Performance

Logistics unicorn Delhivery has allotted more than 8.2 lakh equity shares under its various employee stock option (ESOP) schemes, the company said in its exchange filing on February 11. The new-age company’s shareholders have approved the allotment of 8,22,310 shares with a face value of Rs 1 each.

Of 8.2 lakh allotted shares, the logistics firm allotted 1.8 lakh shares under ESOP 2012, 5.3 lakh shares under ESOP II 2020 and 1.01 lakh shares under ESOP III 2020.

The shares will be fully paid up against the exercise of vested options. “The vested options can be exercised at any time from the respective date (s) of vesting, as per the terms of grants,” the filing read.

The unicorn’s paid-up share capital will increase from Rs 74.35 crore to Rs 74.44 crore after the allotment of the shares, as per the filing.

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Delhivery's Q3 Results

Delhivery reported a muted set of numbers in the December 2024 quarter, which is a seasonally strong quarter due to festive pick-up in demand. The bottom line more than doubled for the quarter but contraction in margins and fall in the operating performance dented the sentiments.

The logistics solution provider reported a net profit of Rs 25 crore for the three months ended December 31, 2024, clocking a growth of 113% on a year-on-year (YoY) basis. Its revenue rose 8.4% YoY to Rs 2,378.3 crore. Ebitda for the quarter slipped 6.2% YoY to Rs 102.4 crore with the margins contracting to 4.3% from 5% for the quarter.

eCommerce demand slowed, and competition from qCommerce and insourcing from platforms dragged the growth rates in express. Segment margin at 3% for PTL and 16% for expressare set to rise gradually, led by pickup in utilization via line-haul optimisation, said Elara Capital, which has a 'buy' rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 387.

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Delhivery’s performance in the PTL segment remains robust, although it continues to face headwinds in B2C owing to weak consumption trends and insourcing by Meesho, said Emkay Global Financial Services. "With the management alluding to a series of initiatives for sprucing up B2C volumes, we believe Delhivery’s cost and tech advantages should help further bolster its market share," it said.

While service Ebitda margin contracted sequentially on account of network expansion in anticipation of festive demand surge, an imminent pickup in volumes in Q3 along with declining capex intensity should bode well for the margin trajectory in coming quarters, Emkay added with a 'buy' rating but trimmed its target price to Rs 475.

Among other brokerage firms ICICI Securities, Kotak Institutional Equities and JM Financial Services have a 'buy' rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 500, Rs 420 and Rs 380 respectively, but PL Capital has a 'hold' tag for the stock with a target price of Rs 340.