Business Line reported that stressed cash flow has forced Shipping Corporation of India to go slow on its vessel acquisition plan.
Mr S Hajara CMD of SCI said that SCI was not aggressively perusing its proposed new acquisitions. The asset prices have come down sharply. It should have been an ideal time for acquisition. But we are not being able to take advantage of the situation as economic slowdown has stressed our cash flow severely.
This year margins have come down even lower than the previous fiscal in which SCI reported a loss of INR 428.21 crore, its first in 28 years, against a profit of INR 567.35 crore in 2010-11.
Mr Hajara said that “The 2012-13 margin trends suggest 10% dip from the last financial year and more than 50% from SCI’s historic peak margin.” He said that bigger fleet in a depressed freight market could be a further drag on the bottomline.
SCI was ticked off by the auditor for missing its acquisition target in 2011-12.
