Blue Dart appoints new Managing Director & Sales up by 24.51%

Mumbai :February 21, 2007

Blue Dart Express Limited, South Asia's #1 integrated air express, courier and logistics company, today announced the appointment of Anil Khanna as Managing Director of the company with effect from February 21, 2007. Anil Khanna will replace Malcolm Monteiro who has moved to DHL Express, Asia Pacific, as Senior Vice President and Area Director for South Asia.

The appointment of the new Managing Director has been approved by the Board of Directors at a meeting held in the city today to declare the company's annual financial results for the year ended December 31 2006.

The Company posted a Rs 502.28 million profit after tax for the year ended December 31, 2006, compared to Rs 434.09 million for the nine-month period ended December 31, 2005 of the previous year. Income from operations for the year ended 2006 was 6,680.24 million. Blue Dart, last year, moved to a financial reporting for the calendar year from the earlier fiscal year.

Anil Khanna has 27 years of experience in various industries and has been with Blue Dart for over 14 years. He moves to the position of Managing Director from his earlier position as Senior Vice President - Western Region. As the Head of the Western Region, he has been responsible for developing business potential, driving strong growths in the region, which contributes to a third of the company's revenues, and enhancing service quality. Anil is a graduate from St Stephen's College, Delhi and holds an MBA degree in Marketing and Finance from UBS, Chandigarh.

Speaking on the strategy going forward, Anil Khanna said, "Blue Dart is a market leader and has built its differentiation on the fundamentals of service excellence and customer centricity. Blue Dart serves a loyal customer base and the challenge is to innovate ahead of the market to find solutions compatible with evolving customer needs and reinforce our role as a critical component in his supply chain. I look forward to working closely with my colleagues to drive our company forward in the interest of India's business, our shareholders and the community we serve."

While expressing appreciation for Malcolm Monteiro, Anil Khanna said, "Malcolm succeeded in ensuring the company's continued profitability in the past year. Blue Dart is proud of Malcolm's selection on the Asia Pacific Management Board and his new responsibility as head of the South Asia region at DHL Express. His appointment is a welcome reinforcement of DHL's commitment to India and the SAARC region, and both DHL and Blue Dart's complementary and collaborative strengths are ideally positioned to serve and facilitate trade and commerce in the region as no other service provider".

About Blue Dart: Blue Dart, South Asia's premier courier, and integrated air express package distribution company, offers secure and reliable delivery of consignments to over 14,400 locations in India.

As part of the DHL Group, Blue Dart accesses the largest and most comprehensive express and logistics network worldwide, covering over 220 countries, and offering an entire spectrum of distribution services, including express, air freight, ocean freight, supply chain solutions, freight forwarding, customs clearance, project handling and charters through the 4 Business Units in India - DHL Express, DHL Global Forwarding, DHL Exel Supply Chain and Blue Dart.

Blue Dart was selected a Business Superbrand from over 1699 brands across 169 product categories, received the Readers Digest's Most Trusted Brand Gold Award, and is listed in the Dun & Bradstreet top 500 companies in India. The Blue Dart team drives marketplace leadership through its motivated people force, dedicated air capacity, cutting-edge technology, innovation, and value-added services, to deliver unmatched standards of service quality to its customers.

BLUE DART EXPRESS LIMITED

Audited Financial Results for the Year ended December 31, 2006

_{(All figures are in Rs Mn.)}

Notes :

1. The Company changed its financial year to calendar year basis during the year 2005. Accordingly, the current year results for the year ended December 31, 2006 are not comparable with the previous financial period ended December 31, 2005.
2. The income from operations has recorded an increase of 22.73% for the quarter ended December 31, 2006 as compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year and of 24.32% for the nine months ended December 31, 2006 over the corresponding nine months ended December 31, 2005.
3. Other income for the nine months period ended December 31, 2005 included reversal of provision of Rs. 68 Million made in the earlier year for a one-time retention compensation payable to the erstwhile Managing Director, on account of rejection of application by the Government of India.
4. Effective June 1, 2006 the Company has inducted two Boeing 757 freighter aircraft and also connected Ahmedabad as its seventh aviation hub and made Hyderabad as an outbound gateway, which together resulted in increased Freight, Handling and Servicing costs.
5. As part of its prudent Accounting practice, the Company voluntarily adopted the revised Accounting Standard, Employee Benefits (AS-15) issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. The Company also amended the variables for valuing the liability for leave encashment, accordingly the employee costs for the year are higher by Rs. 40 Million and profit before tax is lower by a similar amount.
6. During the year ended December 31, 2006 the Company revised the estimated useful life of certain assets under the block of Office Equipment, Electrical Equipment, Computers and Aircraft Engines to more appropriately reflect the pattern in which these assets economic benefits are expected to be availed. As a result of this change, profit before tax and the net book value of fixed assets are lower by Rs. 41 Million.
7. Keeping in view the plans for strengthening and expanding the Company's infrastructure including the air and ground fleet, as well as facilities for the long term, the Board of Directors have recommended a dividend of 10% for the year ended December 31,2006.
8. The Company's Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended December 31, 2005, have been awarded with 'Silver Shield' under the specified 'Service Sector' category of 'ICAI Awards for Excellence in Financial Reporting' by Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
9. The Company is primarily engaged in a single segment business of integrated transportation and distribution of shipments and is managed as one entity for its various service offerings and is governed by a similar set of risks and returns. The said treatment is in accordance with the guiding principles enunciated in the Accounting Standard on Segment Reporting ( AS-17 ) issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
10. The Consolidated Financial Results represent those of Blue Dart Express Limited and its subsidiaries, Concorde Air Logistics Limited and Skyline Air Logistics Limited(upto August 10, 2006). The Company has consolidated its results based on the Accounting Standard on Consolidation of Financial Statements (AS-21) issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. The 40% holding in Blue Dart Aviation Limited has been consolidated in accordance with the Accounting Standard on Accounting for Investments in Associates ( AS-23) issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. On account of divestment of equity shares of Skyline Air Logistics Limited during the year ended December 31, 2006, the previous period's consolidated results are not comparable.
11. The Company did not have any investor complaint pending as on October 1, 2006 and December 31, 2006. There was one investor's complaint received and disposed off during the quarter ended December 31, 2006.
12. The prior period's figures have been regrouped and reclassified wherever necessary to conform to current year's classification.
13. The above results were reviewed by the Audit Committee and were thereafter approved by the Board at its meeting held on February 21, 2007. There are no qualifications in the Auditors' Report issued for the financial year ended December 31, 2006.

Date :February 21,2007.
Place : Mumbai

For further information contact :

marketing@bluedart.com
Dated :February 21,2007