BENGALURU (Reuters) - Logistics firm Delhivery posted a narrower loss on Friday, aided by improved volume growth in its supply chain and truckload services.

The company reported a consolidated loss of 684.7 million rupees ($8.21 million) for the quarter ended March 31, compared with a loss of 1.59 billion rupees a year ago.

This however came above analysts' estimated loss of 258.6 million rupees.

Total income rose 13.5% to 21.95 billion rupees

For further results highlights, click [full story]

KEY CONTEXT

Logistics companies have been facing increased competition as more e-commerce platforms are moving towards developing in-house solutions instead of approaching third party logistics to reduce costs.

Analysts expected to see volume growth for B2B businesses in the fourth quarter, but were wary of price realisations to keep up with the volume growth.

Delhivery, according to analysts, is better placed in this competitive sector on the back of its stronger reach in smaller cities and lower-cost advantage.

Peer Container Corporation of India on Thursday reported a higher fourth-quarter profit aided by volume growth in its export/import segment.

PEER COMPARISON

Valuation (next Estimates (next 12 Analysts' sentiment

12 months) months)

RIC PE EV/EBIT Revenue growth(%) Mean # of Stock to

DA rating* analysts price

target**

Delhivery Ltd 25016. 49.90 19.26 Buy 20 0.84

67

Blue Dart Express 40.31 18.54 9.85 Hold 6 0.97

Ltd

Container 39.82 24.60 16.74 Hold 13 1.16

Corporation of India

Ltd

Mahindra Logistics 61.03 9.65 15.18 Hold 11 0.99

Ltd

JANUARY-MARCH STOCK PERFORMANCE

-- All data from LSEG

-- $1 = 83.3514 Indian rupees

(Reporting by Anisha Ajith in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K and Vijay Kishore)