Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 67.29 points, or 0.43%, 15,400.88
On BSE, 5.99 lakh shares were traded in the counter. The stock had an average daily volume of 24.52 lakh shares in the past one quarter.
The stock hit a high of Rs 70.65 and a low of Rs 67.25 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 118.35 on 2 June 2008 and a 52-week low of Rs 21 on 12 March 2009.
The mid-cap stock outperformed the market over the past one month till 10 June 2009, advancing 63.78% as compared to the Sensex's return of 30.23%. It had also outperformed the market in the past one quarter, surging 210.02% as compared to the Sensex's return of 89.53%.
The company's current equity is Rs 23.60 crore. Face value per share is Re 1. The current price of Rs 70.10 discounts the company's Q4 March 2009 annualized EPS of Rs 26.16, by a PE multiple of 2.67
Dead-weight tonnage or DWT refers to how much mass or weight of cargo that a ship can carry. Mercator Lines' investment would be around Rs 500 crore for this additional expansion of vessels, reports said. These additional vessels will be under its Singapore-listed subsidiary Mercator Lines (Singapore). Out of the three vessels proposed to be acquired, two are from the New Yangzijiang Shipyard in China, which will remain with Mercator until 2014. The third vessel is from Sungdong Shipyard, South Korea and will be on a charter with Mercator until 2020.
Mercator's own fleet currently comprises 12 tankers with a combined capacity of 13.7 lakh DWT, 12 dry bulkers with a combined capacity of 8.98 lakh DWT, four dredgers with a combined capacity of 31,854 cubic metres (CBM) and a 350 feet oil jack-up rig.
In March 2009 Singapore based Mercator Offshore, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mercator Lines took delivery of a jack up rig at a cost of Rs 1000 crore. The rig was delivered on 11 March 2009 about three weeks before schedule and was immediately deployed under a firm bare boat contract for a period of three years. The jack up rig is capable of working in a water depth of 350 feet and has a drilling capability of 30,000 feet.
Mercator Lines' net profit jumped 108.5% to Rs 154.35 crore on 6.7% increase in net sales to Rs 283.46 crore in Q4 March 2009 over Q4 March 2008. The company declared the results on 19 May 2009.
Mercator Lines provides marine transportation services. The group's areas of operations are tankers and lighterage. The company is a provider of sea borne transportation services, primarily involved in the transportation of crude oil in India and overseas.