Public | |
Traded as | : : MERCATOR |
Industry | Shipping, Coal, Dredging and Offshore Oil |
Founded | 1983, Mumbai |
Headquarters | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
Key people
|
H. K. Mittal, Chairman & Atul J. Agarwal, MD |
Revenue | ₹683.90 crore (US$110 million) |
Website | www.mercator.in |
Mercator Limited is an Indian company. It was earlier known as Mercator Lines Ltd. The Mercator group of companies has diversified business interests in Coal, Oil & Gas, Commodity Transportation, and Dredging. Mercator Limited (formerly Mercator Lines Ltd.) is the parent company and is the second largest private sector shipping company in India, and it is based in Mumbai. It has recently forayed into the Offshore business with its subsidiaries Mercator Oil and Gas Ltd and Mercator Offshore Ltd.
Mercator Ltd. is the second largest private sector shipping company in India in terms of tonnage.
Mercator Ltd was incorporated on 24 November 1983 as a private limited company. It was converted into a public limited company on 3 April 1984.
It has done pioneering work by operating vessels in some uncharted rivers like the Tapti and has thus opened new navigational routes. It has diversified itself into various business segments.
Mr. H. K. Mittal the promoter of the company took it over in the year 1988 and the company has become the second largest private sector shipping company in India in terms of tonnage.
Since its maiden public issue in 1993, it has grown in terms of financial parameters like turnover, profits, tonnage and market capitalization. Presently the shares of the Company are listed on Mumbai Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange. During April 2005, the Company completed its first international offering of Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds aggregating USD 60 mn. The issue is listed on Singapore Stock Exchange.
The Company also added new business segment namely Offshore Drilling with acquisition of Jack-Up Rig. The rig received ahead of its schedule; was deployed immediately upon delivery in March 2009; for a period of three years on firm bare boat charter. The Group has opted out of the Offshore Drilling segment w.e.f. March 2011 as strategic decision.
The Company also forayed into dredging and presently owns a sizeable fleet.
Mercator Group has also acquired economic interest in coal mines in Mozambique and Indonesia with substantial coal resources; as a measure of backward integration to strengthen its shipping activities and to meet the huge energy demand in India. The commercial operations in Indonesia have already commenced.
Mercator commenced its Wet Bulk business in 1998 by acquiring the vessel M. T. Richa (9,750 DWT) and entered into crude oil transportation in 2003. In a very short span of time, it has grown to be amongst the major Indian companies in this segment. Mercator is the second largest tanker owners in the private sector in India in terms of tonnage. The company operates its fleet as a mix of spot contracts (single-voyage) and period contracts (fixed-term). The Company presently has a consolidated DWT of 760,189 tones for this segment.