Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 102.89 points or 0.3% to 34,342.86. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 30.25 points or 0.17% at 18,123.87, outperforming the Sensex.

On the BSE, 7.99 lakh shares were traded on the counter so far as against average daily volumes of 7.24 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock had hit a high of Rs 39.40 and a low of Rs 37.20 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 55.20 on 24 April 2017 and a 52-week low of Rs 32.75 on 14 December 2017.

The stock has gained 11.54% in five sessions to its ruling price, from a close of Rs 34.65 on 20 February 2018.

The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 26 February 2018, falling 11.58% compared with the Sensex's 4.45% drop. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, declining 10.29% as against Sensex's 2.28% rise. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one year, dropping 22.33% as against Sensex's 19.22% rise.

The small-cap company has equity capital of Rs 30.25 crore. Face value per share is Re 1.

Mercator Petroleum (MPL), a Mercator Group company, has announced that Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) has approved the field development plan (FDP) submitted by MPL for its Jyoti-1 & Jyoti-2 oil discoveries in Block CB-ONN-2005/9. DGH has approved the FDP for over 23 million barrels of recoverable oil over the life of field.

MPL is also gearing up to commence extended well test (EWT)/trial production at one of the wells in March 2018, as approved by DGH earlier. EWT will help MPL streamline operations prior to full-fledged production which is targeted to commence at the earliest. As per earlier announced schedule, MPL is in process of commencing drilling in the eighth exploratory well. Testing of already drilled well (Jyoti-6) is also underway.

On a consolidated basis, Mercator reported net loss of Rs 105.29 crore in Q3 December 2017 compared with net profit of Rs 30.42 crore in Q3 December 2016. Net sales fell 65.1% to Rs 203.92 crore in Q3 December 2017 over Q3 December 2016.

Mercator group has business interests in coal, oil & gas, shipping and dredging.