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(Alliance News) - Mercantile Ports & Logistics Ltd on Monday reported a widened first half loss but said it made "progress" in developing the Karanja port facility in the Indian state of Maharashtra.
Shares in Mercantile were 11% higher at 1.70 pence each in London on Monday afternoon.
Pretax loss in the six months to June 30 widened year-on-year to GBP2.0 million from GBP1.7 million. Administrative expenses rose by 11% to GBP1.9 million from GBP1.7 million and finance costs totalled GBP125,000, compared with none in the first half of 2018.
Although the company did not generate any revenue during the period, Mercantile looks "forward to meaningful revenues being generated this calendar year" and hailed its "encouraging visibility on delivering further contracts wins".
Mercantile is developing the Karanja port and logistics facility in Navi Mumbai, a city in the west of India.
Earlier in September, Mercantile signed a deal with Tata Projects Ltd and Daewoo Engineering & Construction, which would secure the firm GBP5.5 million in revenue over a 40-month period.
Executive Chair Nikhil Gandhi said: "I am delighted to report on a period of progress, following the inauguration of Karanja Port and the generation of first revenue from cargo movements. The strategic importance of Karanja Port has been demonstrated by the multi-year contract with Tata and Daewoo and we continue to see interest from numerous other parties to use our facility.
"Currently, we are negotiating with, or in diligence and contracting phase with, at least two other major corporations to start using our facility during the course of 2019 and we have built a growing pipeline of potential customers."
Looking ahead, Mercantile said it expects to benefit from India's "significant economic growth".
The company added: "We are confident that our facility will benefit from this, growing in tandem with India's growth, and from being located in close proximity to the financial and industrial heartland of India. Whilst it has taken longer than we would have liked, the recent contract win with the Daewoo Tata JV does, we believe, demonstrate the opportunity that our facility has to benefit from significant infrastructure projects being undertaken in the region."
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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