The prolonged lockdown has badlyhit the travel, tourism and logistics verticals of diversified PSU Balmer Lawrie and Co Ltd and the company is bracing itself for a drop in profit this fiscal, an official said.Travel, tourism and logistics are the strategic business units (SBUs), which contribute about 40 per cent of overall annual revenue of the city-headquartered company and 60 per cent of its profit, he said."Among the six verticals of the company, travel, tourism and logistics businesses are the worst-hit," Balmer Lawrie CMD Prabal Basu told PTI.All travel and tourism related bookings have been cancelled since March 14, and people are scared of the coronavirus pandemic, he said."Confidence is low and nobody wants to come out," he said.In case of logistics, there is a global problem, and imports from China, US and Europe countries came to a standstill as these nations are in crisis due to the coronavirus outbreak, he said."The logistics services has been badly affected," Basu said, adding that its lubricant manufacturing factories are also closed due to the lockdown.Only the industrial packaging division of the company is now working but in a small scale with restrictions on manpower, and all norms relating to health safety and social distancing are followed, he said.Basu said the economy is going through a "challenging time" and will "take at least one year to stabilise".
