Shares of visa application player BLS International are sharply down by over 3 percent in mid-day trade, a day after hitting 52-week high on the back of a $31 million (Rs 260 crore) acquisition in Dubai.
Meanwhile, shares of listed subsidiary BLS E-Services are sharply higher by over 7 percent in mid-day trade.
At the AGM on September 12, BLS International announced an interim dividend of 50 paise per share on each paid up equity shares for FY24, and a final dividend of 50 paise per share. Shikhar Aggarwal, the Joint Managing Director was also re-appointed for another three years at the AGM.
The company also approved raising of capital up to Rs 2,000 crore through issue of shares in the company, it was decided in the AGM.
On the acquisition, BLS said the buyout of Dubai-based Citizenship Invest (CI) - an advisory firm - is subject to regulatory approvals, and is funded through internal accruals. CI has expertise in long-term visa through citizenship and residency programs, and will help broaden BLS' offerings in the Visa and Consular space, the company said.
"This aligns with our strategic vision of enhancing synergies and boosting EBITDA. The company’s outstanding 99% application success rate, combined with high revenue per application, aligns perfectly with our customer-centric philosophy," Shikhar Aggarwal, Joint Managing Director of BLS International said.
Visa and Consular Services accounted for 81 percent of BLS' FY24 revenue, the company had said. BLS is betting on a 1-1/2-fold growth in global air passenger traffic by 2030 at 3.2 billion per year, which offers opportunity for growth at BLS. A note by Mordor Intelligence said that between 2017-2023, over 8,100 aircraft were delivered worldwide. This figure is expected to cross 12,800 over next six years, ie, between 2024-2030, leading to increased demand for visa-related services.
Globally, more and more countries are outsourcing the business of visa processing to private companies like BLS. The World Tourism Barometer note says by next year, outsourced entities will handle half of the world's visa processing requirement.
Going forward, BLS also intends to cross-sell various digital services under the digital BLS Store platform, housed under BLS E-Services.
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