Unlock trade is helping shares of many companies to attain new highs. There are many companies such as Indian Hotels and some of the airline companies and gaming companies have attained their past glory. BSE & NSE listed BLS International Ltd which is an outsourcing and technology services company that helps governments and diplomatic missions worldwide by managing visa and passport issuance is also one of the beneficiary of unlocking. Share price of the company has increased from Rs 85 at the start of the year to Rs 193 currently. Nevertheless, it is down by almost 50 per cent from its recent peak.
This is despite many positive developments around the company. First recently company’s subsidiary of BLS International, Starfin India Pvt. Ltd. has been empaneled by two banks i.e. Punjab National Bank & Central Bank of India to support the financial inclusion mission of Govt of India. The company has become the official Corporate Business Correspondent (BC) to deliver last mile banking services in rural/ semi urban/ urban/ metro areas across India.
BLS International’s subsidiary, Starfin is already empanelled as the Corporate BC for
Bank of Baroda; the National BC for State Bank of India; Corporate BC for Uttarakhand Gramin Bank; and Microfinance Agency for Punjab National Bank.
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Besides, in the month of October, global private equity major Blackstone on has signed a definitive agreement with EQT Private Equity and the Kuoni and Hugentobler Foundation (KHF) to acquire a majority stake in visa processing company VFS Global at valuation of USD 2.5 billion. Last year VFS had processed 18.6 crore of visa application that makes value per application at USD 13.44 while BLS International processed 5.2 crore which means a valuation of USD 5 per application.
In addition to this recently, CRISIL Ratings has upgraded its long-term rating on the
bank facilities of BLS International Services Limited to ‘CRISIL A-/Stable’ from ‘CRISIL BBB+/Stable’ and reaffirmed the short-term rating at ‘CRISIL A2+’.
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The upgrade in rating is driven by the gradual improvement in the business risk profile on account of diversification into new business segments and addition of clients in these segments. Hence, this company can also be a beneficiary of rise in travelling and unlocking of the economies.