Mercator Lines plunged 4.25% to Rs 50.75 at 11:30 IST on BSE, after the company posted net loss of Rs 29.19 crore in Q2 September 2009 as compared to net profit of Rs 12.75 crore in Q2 September 2008.
Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 182.26 points, or 1.12%, to 16,101.23.
On BSE, 5.94 lakh shares were traded in the counter as against an average daily volume of 15.12 lakh shares in the past one quarter.
The stock hit a high of Rs 51.45 and a low of Rs 49 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 76.75 on 3 June 2009 and a 52-week low of Rs 21 on 12 March 2009.
The stock has fallen 20.83% in six trading sessions from a recent high of Rs 64.10 on 21 October 2009.
The mid-cap stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 28 October 2009, falling 11.59% as compared to the Sensex's 2.45% fall. It had also underperformed the market in the past one quarter, declining 15.94% as compared to the Sensex's return of 6.21%.
The company's equity capital is Rs 23.60 crore. Face value per share is Rs 1.
Mercator Lines' net sales slumped 59.1% to Rs 130.48 crore in Q2 September 2009 over Q2 September 2008. On a consolidated basis, the company reported net loss of Rs 1.90 crore in Q2 September 2009 as compared to net profit of Rs 104.97 crore in Q2 September 2008. Net sales declined 36.54% to Rs 412.13 crore in Q2 September 2009 over Q2 September 2008. The company announced the results after market hours on Wednesday, 28 October 2009.
Mercator Lines said that the company's profits would be under pressure. But, the company said it believes that it is well positioned to honor its commitments and explore further growth opportunities that are likely to come up in the medium to long term.
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.