Chartered Logistics Q3 FY26: ₹17.38 Cr Sales, ₹-1.05 Cr PAT & 568 P/E — Is This a Trucking Business or a Financial Thriller?
1. At a Glance – When Logistics Meets Logic Error
Chartered Logistics Ltd is currently priced at ₹8.49 with a market cap of ₹108 crore. In the last three months, the stock has delivered a 7.33% return. Sounds decent? Now hold your seatbelt.
Latest quarterly sales stand at ₹17.38 crore, but PAT has crashed to ₹-1.05 crore. OPM is negative at -4.26%. EPS for the quarter is ₹-0.08. And yet — the stock trades at a mind-bending P/E of 568.
ROCE sits at 5.76%. ROE at 2.73%. Debt stands at ₹25.7 crore with debt-to-equity at 0.38. Promoter holding? 35.06% and declining.
This is a logistics company running ~300 vehicles across India serving pharma, cement, FMCG and heavy metals.
But here’s the twist: earnings include ₹4.60 crore of other income (TTM). Operating profit? Negative.
So the question is simple: Are we looking at a logistics operator… or a side-hustle income specialist?
Let’s investigate.
2. Introduction – The Truck That Forgot to Deliver Profits
Incorporated in 1995, Chartered Logistics Ltd operates in domestic transportation of goods. Nothing fancy. No drones. No AI routing. No hyperloop. Just good old trucks carrying cement, chemicals, and pharma.
99% of revenue comes from truck fleet operations.
This is as pure-play as it gets.
Yet the financial story looks like a Bollywood suspense film.
Quarterly numbers swing wildly:
Jun 2025: ₹2.02 Cr PAT
Sep 2025: ₹0.34 Cr
Dec 2025: ₹-1.05 Cr
Operating margin? From +9% to -5.79% to 0% to -4.26%.
How does a logistics company forget to make operating profit in a quarter?
Expenses in Dec 2025 were ₹18.12 crore against sales of ₹17.38 crore.
Basic math failed.
Interest coverage is just 1.22. That means for every ₹1 of interest, operating profit barely covers it.
And yet — the company recently converted 69 lakh warrants into equity.
More shares. Same profitability struggles.
Is this growth capital? Or survival capital?
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
Let’s simplify this.
They own/attach ~300 vehicles.
They provide:
Road transport
Warehousing
Cost & freight
Door-to-door
Project logistics
Customized carrier solutions
Industries served:
Pharma
FMCG
Cement
Heavy metals
Petroleum
Chemicals
Clients include:
The India Cements
Johnson & Johnson
Heavy Metals & Tubes Ltd
Dhunseri
Basically, they move heavy things from Point A to Point B.
No proprietary tech platform. No asset-light model like Delhivery. No integrated rail + port model like Container Corp.
Just trucks. Diesel. Drivers. Receivables.
Revenue breakup FY22:
Truck Fleet Operations: 99%
Other Income: 1%
This is a cyclical, low-margin, high-working-capital business.