Delhivery integrates Ecom Express volumes, Q1 profit rises 67% in Q1 | Bengaluru News

Bengaluru: Delhivery said it brought more than half of Ecom Express’s volumes onto its platform after the acquisition received regulatory approval in June. It shifted all client contracts to what it described as “rational pricing.” “The irrational pricing that existed in the market has been cleaned out, at least out of what was the erstwhile Ecom Express network,” Sahil Barua, CEO, Delhivery said during the investor call on Friday. Delhivery bought Ecom Express for Rs 1,369 crore this year. “Clients now get volume-linked discounts, but not the below-cost contracts that were distorting the market. Logistics is not a business where pricing below cost works. Wages rise 7-8% annually, rentals by 5-8%, and fleet costs inflate in a very predictable way. Balance sheet constraints will ultimately force every third-party logistics to price sustainably, whether we do anything or not.” Barua stated that the integration also helped consolidate client relationships across marketplaces, SMEs, and direct-to-consumer brands. Express parcel volumes rose 14% year-on-year to 208 million in the June quarter. He added that July volumes were “materially higher” than June, with the festive season expected to support further growth. Part-truckload freight tonnage grew 15% year-on-year to 4.6 lakh tonnes. While sequential volumes were flat in what the company described as a seasonally weak quarter, partial truckload (PTL) margins improved to 10.7%, up 750 basis points from a year earlier. Barua mentioned that PTL demand was supported by deliveries to quick commerce dark stores and mother warehouses. Delhivery reported a net profit of Rs 91 crore for the June quarter, up 67% from Rs 54 crore a year ago. Revenue from services grew 6% to Rs 2,294 crore, and the EBITDA margin rose to 6.5% from 4.5%. The company also invested Rs 14 crore during the quarter in its new initiatives, including Delhivery Direct, an intra-city pickup and delivery service for SMEs and consumers, and Delhivery Rapid, a sub-2-hour delivery offering. It is also preparing to launch an economy cross-border shipping product for small exporters. Separately, Delhivery appointed PB Fintech chairman Yashish Dahiya and IIM Bangalore’s Dr Padmini Srinivasan as independent directors. Long-serving board member Srivatsan Rajan will step down in September as part of a planned transition.