Asian Paints Limited (ASIANPAINT) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

[Foreign Language] And a very warm welcome to all of you to the 77th Annual General Meeting of Asian Paints Limited. I am Deepak Satwalekar, Independent Director and Chairman of your company. I'm joining this meeting from Mumbai. It is with pleasure that I am addressing all of you today. Dear members, this AGM is being conducted through video conference in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2013, various circulars issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and the Securities and Exchange Board of India. We have taken all efforts to enable the shareholders to participate through video conference and vote at the AGM in a seamless manner. Participation of members through video conference is being reckoned for the purpose of quorum under Section 103 of the company's Act 2013 as per the circulars issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The quorum being present. I call this meeting to order. Before we start the main proceedings of the meeting, I shall introduce my colleagues on the Board who are attending this meeting through video conference. Let me start by introducing the Vice Chairman of your company, Mr. Manish Choksi. Mr. Manish Choksi is the non-Executive Vice Chairman of your company and a member of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee and the Investment Committee. He is attending this meeting from Mumbai. Now I'd like to introduce Mr. Amit Syngle. Mr. Amit Syngle is the Managing Director and CEO of your company and a member of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee and the Investment Committee. He is attending this meeting from Mumbai. Next, I would like to introduce Mr. Ashwin Dani. Mr. Ashwin Dani is the Nonexecutive Director of your company. He is attending this meeting from Mumbai. I would now be introducing Mrs. Vibha Paul Rishi. Mrs. Vibha Paul Rishi is an independent director of your company. She is the Chairperson of the Stakeholders Relationship Committee and the Risk Management Committee and a member of the Audit Committee and the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee. She is attending this meeting from Gurugram. Next is Mr. R. Seshasayee. Mr. R. Seshasayee is an Independent Director of your company. He is the Chairman of the Investment Committee and a member of the Audit Committee and the Nomination and Remuneration Committee. He is attending this meeting from Chennai. I would now be introducing Mr. Suresh Narayanan, Mr. Suresh Narayanan is an Independent Director of your company. He is the Chairman of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee and a member of the Investment Committee. He is attending the meeting from Gurugram. Next, I would be introducing Mrs. Pallavi Shroff. Mrs. Pallavi Shroff is an independent director of your company. She is a member of the Audit Committee and the Risk Management Committee. She is attending this meeting from New Delhi. Next is Mr. Milind Sarwate. Mr. Milind Sarwate is an independent director of your company. He is the Chairman of the Audit Committee. Mr. Sarwate is attending this meeting from Thane. Next, I would like to introduce Mr. Malav Dani. Mr. Malav Dani is the Non-Executive Director of your company. He is the Chairman of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee and a member of the Investment Committee. He is attending the meeting from Mumbai. Next up is Ms. Amrita Vakil. Mr. Amrita Vakil is a Non-Executive Director of your company. She is also a member of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee and the Investment Committee. Ms. Amrita Vakil is attending this meeting from Mumbai. I would now be introducing Mr. Jigish Choksi. Mr. Jigish Choksi is a Non-Executive Director of your company and a member of the Stakeholders Relationship Committee and the Risk Management Committee. He is attending this meeting from Mumbai. Lastly, Ms. Nehal Vakil. Ms. Nehal Vakil is a Non-Executive Director of your company and a member of the Stakeholders Relationship Committee. She is attending this meeting from Mumbai. All the directors of the company are present at this meeting. We also have Mr. R. J. J. Murugan, CFO and Company Secretary, joining the meeting through video conference from Mumbai. Mr. Rupen Bhatt, Partner Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP. Statutory auditors, Mr. Rasesh Chokshi, Partner RA & Company, Cost Auditors, and Mr. Kulbhushan Rane, representative of Dr. K.R. Chandratre, Secretarial Auditors have also joined the meeting. I now request Mr. Jeyamurugan, CFO and Company Secretary to provide general instructions to the members regarding participation in this meeting.

Good morning. everyone. It gives me immense pleasure to welcome all of you to the 77th Annual General Meeting of Asian Paints Limited. I request you to take note of the general instructions regarding participation and voting at this meeting. This meeting is being held through video conference in terms of the relevant circulars issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and the Securities and Exchange Board of India. Your company has tied up with National Securities Depository Limited to provide the facility for e-voting through remote e-voting, e-voting during the AGM and the participation in the AGM through video conference. Live streaming of this meeting is being webcast on NSDL's website. The register of Directors and the key manager personnel, under their shareholding, the register of contracts or arrangements in which directors are interested and other relevant documents referred to in the AGM notice and the explanatory statement have been made available electronically for inspection by the members during the AGM upon logging through NSDL e-voting system. As the AGM is being held through video conference, the facility for appointment of proxies by the members is not applicable. During the AGM, if any shareholder faces any technical issues, they may contact the helpline number mentioned in the notice of the AGM. We have received an overwhelming number of registration from shareholders intending to speak at the AGM. And depending on the availability of time, we shall endeavor to provide the shareholders with the opportunity to express their views or ask questions pertaining to the items set forth in the notice. It may be noted that your company reserves the right to limit the number of shareholders asking questions at the AGM. The moderator will facilitate the session once the Chairman opens the floor for questions and answers. During the question and answer session, I will sequentially announce the names of speaker shareholders and the maximum time allowed to each speaker should be 2 minutes. Members are requested to refrain from repeating questions or observations already made by fellow speakers. For a better experience, we would request the speaker shareholders to use earphones. So they are clearly audible, verify the network connectivity, ensure WiFi is not connected to any other devices, no other applications are running in the background, and there is proper lighting for good video experience. The speaker shareholders may choose to turn on their video before addressing the meeting. If any shareholder is unable to speak due to connectivity issues, I will ask the next speaker shareholder to address the meeting. Once the connectivity improves and if the time permits, the speaker shareholders may be called upon again to join only after the other speaker shareholders have completed their turn. The company is providing the facility to vote electronically on all the resolutions set forth in the AGM notice. The shareholders who have not cast their votes through remote e-voting and who are participating in the AGM, we have an opportunity to vote during the AGM through e-voting system provided by NSDL. Thank you. I would now request to Mr. Deepak Satwalekar, Chairman of the company, to address the shareholders.

Dear shareholders. The past year has seen significant challenges. While widespread concerns around COVID-19 were on the back burner, uncertainties and challenges persisted. The ongoing war in Europe and the persistent inflationary trend impacted economic activities across countries. The economic uncertainty was further heightened with the state monetary policy rate hikes across advanced and emerging economies. Amid this unprecedented inflationary and dynamic demand environment, our management team continued to execute its business plans and made progress on driving sustainable growth. I feel proud to state that your company has reported yet another year of stellar performance delivering on our promise of industry-beating growth. We launched new customer propositions and innovations across segments, which helped us to galvanize overall demand. We also implemented some calibrated and gradual price hikes, which helped us protect our margins and also support the overall demand sentiment. Towards the latter half of the year, we started seeing some softening in raw material prices. This coupled with the work on cost efficiencies and formulations ensured that we were able to drive a recovery in our profit margins in the second half of the year. At stand-alone level, your company reported growth of 19.8% in revenue from sale of products and services at INR 29,953 crores. Despite the inflationary environment, the profit before exceptional items and tax increased by 29.2% to INR 5,490 crores and the profit after tax and exceptional items for the year increased by 30.8% to INR 4,100 crores. At the consolidated level, the group achieved growth in revenue from sale of products and services of 18.8% at INR 34,368 crores. The consolidated profit before exceptional items and tax grew by 33.3% to INR 5,738 crores for the financial year. The net profit after tax for the group was higher by 36% at INR 4,195 crores. Considering the financial performance for the year, the Board of Directors have recommended payment of INR 21.25 per equity share as the final dividend for the year. This is in addition to the interim dividend of INR 4.40 per equity share, which was paid in the month of November 2022. If approved, the total dividend for the financial year 2022- '23 will be INR 25.65 against INR 19.15 per equity share paid for the previous financial year, an increase of about 34%. With this recommendation, dividend payout for the year will be at 60% as compared to 58.6% for the previous year. I would request all shareholders to approve the recommended final dividend for the financial year 2022-'23. Moving ahead, I would like to take you through the business highlights of the last financial year. We delivered a robust double-digit volume and value growth in the decorative business. During the year, we took multiple steps to expand the market and also gain from the organized and unorganized segments through our distinct product and service offerings. Our focus on expanding the market and making inroads in the bottom of the pyramid segment resulted in strong growth in the economy range of products. Overall, our decorative business delivered a volume growth of 14% and a strong value growth of 20% for the year. We ended the year with a presence across 1.5 lakh retail touch points, widening our distribution network across smaller cities and towns. Focusing on our core mantra of providing customers with a hassle-free and reliable painting experience, our safe painting service and trusted contractor service, gained further momentum. Addressing lakhs of customers with presence in over 600 towns, we are committed to elevating our service levels and further expanding the reach of these services. Our projects and institutional business maintained its high growth trajectory during the year. Demand was buoyant from the construction and the factory segments, boosted further by the increased government push on infrastructure. Innovation is the backbone of our company and the key to our sustained leadership position. We leveraged our technological edge and have made strategic investments to deliver superior, sustainable and safer products. We launched 22 new products in the architectural paints, waterproofing and adhesive segments. During the year, 10 patents were granted to your company, taking the overall count till date to 49 patents. For almost a decade, Asian Paints has collaborated with Start India Foundation to democratize art and transform urban landscapes in India. Our partnership continued to thrive this year as well. During the year, we embarked on one of our most formidable projects. We joined forces for the Mumbai Urban Art Festival, and you will see more of the wonderful work we accomplished together published in some of the pages of our annual report. Our evolution from share of surface to share of space has grown from strength to strength this year. We are moving well on our stated objective to make this business about 8% to 10% of our overall decorative business over the next 3 to 4 years. With its natural synergy with decorative paints business, this segment will make Asian Paints a key partner in our customers' decor life journey in creating beautiful homes. We offer a unique Phygital experience to our customers in this segment that is both physical and digital. At the heart of this digital experience are inspirational content, engagement and good design curation. These would enable us to build a new-age home decor brand that is tasteful, approachable and trustworthy. Our Decor engine, www.beautifulhomes.com underwent a refresh to become India's leading destination for home decor enthusiasts and design professionals for inspiration, design services and products. Our network of Beautiful Homes stores is now spread across 31 cities. We continue to expand our reach by providing best-in-class consumer experience through expert consultation, 3D visualization, endless customization, making it a true one-stop shop for decor. On the Home Décor front, we continue to augment our decor offerings expanding into the newer categories and increasing the range of our offerings. Our offerings now include products in furniture, furnishing, lights, rugs, modular kitchens, bath solutions, wooden flooring and tiles, home automation and uPVC windows. Through our white teak lighting brand, we added a host of new offerings providing unmatched design and differentiation to the customers. We continued our focus and drive on establishing the Weatherseal uPVC Windows brand more than 50 stores expansion across the country. These partnerships have grown and scaled up well over the year benefiting from the integration with our Beautiful Homes stores and the Beautiful Homes services network. Our performance in Industrial Coatings has been one of the best in the last decade. Leveraging our partnership with PPG Industries Inc. of USA. The automotive industrial coatings business benefited from the recovery in the automotive space and was also supported by the growth in the refinish segment. our nonautomotive industry coatings business grew exceptionally well across crossing the INR 1,000 crore mark -- annual revenue mark. Both the businesses, automotive and nonautomotive industrial coatings also registered improvements in profit margins. Furthermore, we are expanding our technological capabilities and product offerings to address some key infrastructure project requirements. Against the backdrop of tough economic conditions across South Asia and Africa, our international business has delivered good profits for the year. Overall, the business grew in value terms and to a larger extent, in constant currency terms given the currency devaluation in many countries. All geographies grew except for South Asia due to the economic in Sri Lanka and depleted demand conditions in Nepal and Indonesia, especially in the second half of the year. We have registered good gains in our premium and luxury product offerings and the project sales segment across the countries. Our foray into waterproofing and painting services will continue to fuel our performance in the international markets. We have always focused on intertwining our sustainability agenda into the company's business objectives. Through our commitment to clean energy, renewable energy is now over 62% of our electricity consumption at our manufacturing locations. One of our key achievements is becoming water positive replenishing 3.8x of freshwater consumption. Several of our factories were recognized and awarded for their environmental performance be it on our initiatives on water or for our efforts under energy use. We also impacted and touched the lives of over 3.5 lakh people through our various health initiatives. Employee well-being is paramount to our commitment for sustainable operations and our promise of care. We actively engage in initiatives aimed at promoting positivity, wellness and good health among employees and their families. Our people form the backbone of our organization and are our pride. We will continue to lay focus on their development, health and well-being, thereby making the organization stronger. We consider our focus on ESG to be a key driver of long-term value creation for all our stakeholders. This year, we have established and published targets for ourselves through 2030 across all critical areas of ESG. We will annually report progress on these targets to update all stakeholders on our ongoing initiatives. During the year, we embarked upon certain key strategic steps to enable our next growth milestones. Our prioritized investments will differentiate and further enhance the Asian Paints brand saliency with our customers. We have commenced several initiatives laying out an investment plan of INR 8,750 crores across multiple areas. These include capacity expansion, futuristic technology and product capabilities and a host of other initiatives. We believe that all these investments will propel your company on to its next growth trajectory. As I look forward, I'm certain that this new year and the years ahead will present their own unique set of challenges. But I firmly believe that your company is well positioned strategically to continue being the partner of choice for our customers. Throughout your company's legacy, we have seen many changes and overcome several hurdles treating every challenge as an opportunity to evolve. We have always emerged stronger, enhancing our brand saliency and pushing ourselves to stay relevant to the emerging customer needs. India is well poised to deliver strong and consistent economic growth and its high correlation with the domestic paint industry will ensure that the industry will continue to grow well. The industry is seeing elevated interest from many new players, which highlights this strong growth potential for the industry. We believe that this offers enough opportunities for existing and emerging competition to co-exist and thrive. Within the emerging landscape as a leading company, we will continue to strive to build on our leadership strength, driving customer centricity to propel your company forward. I take this opportunity to thank my colleagues on the Board for their wisdom, engagement and support. I also want to appreciate all our stakeholders for their trust and confidence. We will continue to deliver as we always have, whilst bringing joy to people's lives. Moving on. The notice convening this AGM detailing the business as set out in items number 1 to 6 and the integrated annual report containing the audited stand-alone and consolidated financial statements for the financial year ended 31st March 2023, along with the Board's and auditor's report and management discussion and analysis report have already been circulated through the permitted mode to you. And with your kind permission, I take them as read. As there are no qualifications, observations or comments or other remarks in the statutory audit and secretarial audit reports, they are not required to be read. Dear members. In accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2013 and the rules issued thereunder and Regulation 44 of the SEBI, listing obligations and disclosure requirements regulations 2015, the shareholders were provided with an opportunity to cast their vote through remote e-voting on the resolutions as set out in the notice convening this Annual General Meeting. The remote e-voting period commenced at 9 a.m. on Friday, 23rd June 2023 and the facility was available to the shareholders until 5:00 p.m. on Monday, 26 June 2023. Mr. Makarand Joshi filling him Ms. Kumudini Bhalerao Partners, Makarand M. Joshi & Company, practicing company secretaries have been appointed as the scrutinizer for scrutiny of the votes cast through remote e-voting and e-voting during the AGM. Mr. Makarand Joshi has also joined the meeting. The voting results will be declared within 2 working days from the conclusion of this meeting. The results along with the scrutinizer's report will be available on the company's website and on the website of NSDL and the stock exchanges where the company's shares are listed. I would like to formally commence e-voting at the meeting for all those shareholders who have not cast their votes through the remote e-voting in respect of all the resolutions as set out in items number 1 to 6 of the notice convening this Annual General Meeting. Members can click on the Vote tab on the video conference screen to make use of this facility. The speaker shareholders may now ask questions pertaining to any item as set forth in the notice. Members are requested to keep their questions brief and specific. To avoid repetition, the answers to all the questions will be provided towards the end. Members may also note that the company reserves the right to limit the number of members asking questions depending on the availability of time.

Now I invite Mr. Manoj Kumar Gupta, speaker shareholders to speak, please.

Hello.

Yes, sir. We are able to hear you.

Good morning. Respected Chairman, Board of Directors and fellow shareholders. My name is Manoj Gupta. I've joined this meeting from my residence Kolkata. Sir, I'm very happy to see you, you are our Chairman because earlier, we had meet you in HDFC. Now we are meeting you in Asian pants. And we believe that you will run this company like as HDFC and you will take the company in new heights under your leadership. As you have done a wonderful job in HDFC to return to the small investors like me. So you will think about that like that in Asian Paints also, how to return to the employees and the investors. And sir, I thank to our MD and CEO for the excellent result of the company for a good return to the investors and dividend. And I thank to the Company Secretary and his team for excellent job, to helping small investors to join the meeting through VC, especially Swathi and Sahil. They have also keep in touch with the investors after sent the registration request. They always help us from last 4 years. This is 4th AGM through VC. So they always help the small investors to join the meeting. And sir, I thank to you for new products launched. [Foreign Language] Recently, you have launched the linen. Linen fabric is very good sir, excellent, and they are competing with the Raymond and Welspun. So your linen fabric [Foreign Language] very excellent in the market and there is a big demand on Asian Paints linen and try to launch in the big vendor of your Linen in big malls like Spencer, Reliance Smart Bajar because they are captured by this Welspun. So you should try to tie up with the big hypermarkets to sell their market. And sir, when you will be back to the shareholders when our sales will be doubled. Because bonus share is overdue. Now I will not suggest you to issue the bonus share. To consider to issue the bonus debenture at 8% annum for 3 years redemption, try to consider the bonus debenture and what's your future plans? Do you have any plan for coming Northeast with the greenfield project? Northeast is growing and think about to bring some more investment in. And sir, your regional festivals, you are doing a lot of good job for the regional festival, like in Bengal, durga pooja, and Tamilnadu, Pongal. So think about more increase about the your -- it will help you for your advertisement also for Asian Paints. Now when people will go to a dealer, he will ask why are you going to like that [indiscernible]? Why are you not purchasing the Asian Paints? So you think about to increase the -- inspire the people to launch new products in the festival time -- regional festival time. And CSR, your CSR work is very excellent. And I'm very happy to see Mr. R. Seshasayee and Mr. S. Narayanan in our Board. They are the leader in the inter field because Mr. Seshasayee has leaded the Ashok Leyland and IndusInd Bank and Mr. Narayanan is leading the Nestle India in the country. Both have a vast experience and I have ended several AGMs in their Chairmanship. They are very investor friendly. And I thank to you that you had kept 3 lady directors in our board. When the government is failure to give the 33% reservation to women, but you have given the 33% reservation to the women in your board. That shows you are increasing the women empowerment in your board and sir, think about to reward to the shareholders, and I strongly support all the resolutions. And I thank to our Company Secretary and his team, once again to Sahil and Swathi for their excellent job. Thank you, sir.

I now request Mr. Aravind Vykar to speak, please.

Mr. Vykar, we request you to please unmute yourself and start speaking. Thank you.

Good morning. My name is [ Aravind Vyker ]. I'm calling from Ahmedabad. At the outset, I would like to thank the Asian management and secretary department for giving me this opportunity of speaking. In addition, I also want to thank you for sending me a colorful, beautiful integrated annual report with fantastic results. After starting, I find that the sales and profit of financial year 2023 and also of the last quarter, Q4 of 2023 is highest so far. Even your results are at the peak. I congratulate the entire management and the staff and all the shareholders for Asian Paints this performance. I also find that your borrowings have increased possibly for capacity expansion and backward integration. Can you please elaborate on your expansion/backward integration plan and how much benefit in terms of sales turnover and profit can be envisaged because of this. Please answer this to me please.

Thank you, sir. Next, I invite Mr. Sharat Kumar Jivraj Shah.

Mr. Shah, we request you to please unmute your mic and start speaking. Thank you.

Good morning, everybody. And firstly, what I wanted to before going through the annual report news, what is my experience with the secretarial staff of the Asian Paints. All staff is very cooperative with very good service, but in addition to that, what I found there are number of staff but at the same time, they are good for [indiscernible] because my experience with other companies, all companies, most of the companies use good service to their shareholders, but between the staff, there is no coordination. If the coordination is not there, there's -- the shareholders likely suffer. That's the only point I wanted to tell you. Another thing sir, I had already sent my email and the only one point which I have not mentioned is that what is happened to [indiscernible] plant that is not there in the whole annual report. If you can highlight that, that I will be very happy, sir. And when I was referring to your annual report, sir our EBIT is increased this particular year. There will be equity debit ratio so what first speaker suggested as debenture bonds or something like that bonus. I don't in favor of that. I am only favor of that because the market price of share is good. [indiscernible] higher, we should definitely go for a right issue that is my. And this will make a shareholder also happy, company also happy because [indiscernible] that debit equity ratio [indiscernible]. And now they are a very [indiscernible]. Now sir, I go through next one, sir, I would like to know, I'm very happy that you stoped finance to the [indiscernible] meeting. And so what because it only. So what I remember, our earning per share is just equal to Hindustan Liver. And Hindustan Liver specialty is there dividend is always equal to earning per share. And my company is now around 75 years old, why not please look for in the same angle and because retaining money is not necessary because your name is so big that anytime we can arrange the money and why I'm telling you about dividends because this particular year, the marketing price has fall down. Market cap has fall down. As a shareholder, I'm not really bothered what is the share price of the company and I always bother that what I think from the company and my point, when I speak all are related to the interest of the shareholders. So look on that either, sir. Another thing what I have observed in balance sheet, sir. We invest in what we call is mutual fund, bonds, fixed deposit and equity also. And what is this time has happened, this time happened that sir, our return on equity is really good, will see 1 per se. What I say immediately that why not to stop this business and go only in the equity. But here, what we feel that if equities are -- and it looks like that you have got good experience how to invest in equity. So I personally feel that experience if we utilize to the maximum in [indiscernible] so that people can be benefit of it. And sir, you talked about 62% renewable energy. I do agree with that. But when I was referring to Page #342, same Page #267 and 432, what all my observation is that we are putting 400 kw PNG generator in place of diesel generator. In our philosophy to go in to renewables is get repeated sir. Principally, once we decided to go for renewable, we should see that every now and then, we should not go from diesel to PNG or anything else but only go to the renewable. And that is the what I said is that we should be clear in our ideas of having renewable. And why we should go to renewable, which is not because government said. If renewable is profitable to us, definitely we should go for that. And another thing what I observed, sir, is the -- in our balance sheet, you talk more about [indiscernible] you talked about [indiscernible] retail. There are a number of tickets we spent on that. And once, I have told that we have [indiscernible] as we keep under [indiscernible]. And if you see the description, you define [indiscernible] I'm not very clear, guiding me on that mistake, I would be very happy sir. And now let's see, when I was looking to your highlights. Highlight you talk about growth and margin. And what I observed the growth has been released this year. The margin to really we can see the Asian Paints Limited is definitely doing very good because when I look into the last previous year, there was no growth, no margin. If by chance this year, my growth and margin is lower, it doesn't matter. And I'm not interested how I can relate growth with margin. That is very important, sir. If you can relate between the growth and the margin and that will be happy, sir. And what sir I have observed this particular annual report is absolutely excellent. But, what I observed earlier in annual report, where we are seeing how a shareholder become the [indiscernible] increase and it was explained in a very nice way and it was very much convincing. So such good things to repeat in the new annual report are coming in which I found on Page #222 is missing. So I think no things to continue to be created again and again. So that people think the idea how company we see. I would say what I observed is page#313. [indiscernible] So if you can clarify that people as I'm really happy because I was posing some. And what is what earlier to that, I don't know. But once you this year remain 3060. And I'm really not interested to increase the number of shares by bonus or [indiscernible] and because of rights issues, are there. I have to apply and so it was not listed in the stock market. Now from 2020 the right issues are also mistake in the stock market, who can purchase right issue or we can sell the issue to make money. That's -- and basically, I don't say my own sale by any time. So whatever right or something like that from only that fund has start being considered otherwise no. Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to speak. And really, I appreciate all your secretarial department for good population. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next, I invite Mr. Yousuf Younis Rangawala.

Mr. Rangwala...

Good morning, chairman. [Foreign Language]

Yes, sir. We are able to hear you. We are able to hear you.

[Foreign Language] We are very hardworking, sir. This is 77 Annual General Meeting. Many years has past, you're not declaring a bonus, sir. There was a large bonus given many year have passed, sir. Sir, we are not celebrated 75th year. Sir, my humble request [Foreign Language] this is a first award. Second award, Asian Paints recorded our brand -- power brand, Page 168. So this shows how our companies are growing. So now I'll come directly on Point #1, sir, waterproof, [Foreign Language] We're having a 1 kg, which is at INR 350. And we're having [Foreign Language] how it will proceed? So if you can give knowledge, sir, how to put your product [Foreign Language]

Mr. Rangawala, can you hear us? We are facing some technical problems from Mr. Rangwala's residence. We will please move ahead to our next speaker shareholder.

Yes. Next, I invite Mr.

[Foreign Language]

Next, I invite Mr. Sailesh Mahadevia. Yes, sir. You can proceed.

We request you to please unmute your mic, sir.

I have done so. Respected Chairman, distinguished directors and members of the company, including the members of the management team. Sir, let me congratulate our company for excellent results, which is our way of life in any case, year after year, we are giving excellent results. And these results are well reflected in our integrated report, which also includes vital information on BR and SR and corporate governance, et cetera, et cetera. Sir, I also appreciate the Chairman's speech. He has given briefly the working of the company and what we are looking forward in the years to come. Sir, I also would like to appreciate the services of the secretarial department, which has made it possible to connect the management on one side and the shareholders on the other. Sir, with this, first, I would like to appreciate the services of Mr. Dani, whose resolution is there today for his reappointment. And in view of the age, the special resolution is also a big part. Sir, let me tell you that Mr. Dani has served company as one of the promoters of the company for years to come. He is enjoying very good health and we find it in our distribution programs on TV, et cetera, et cetera, and age should not be a bar on such a man. So -- then, I would like to put some questions with a view to increase my understanding and appreciation. And before that, I would like to appreciate two more things in the report. There are many, but these two, for example, we are enjoying now ESG rating from MSCI and our rating is AA leader. And sir, other thing is that we are depending on technology, not only that we are making progress on that count and we are enjoying 7 years 49 patents. These two things I thought was important in many of the things are there. But now my questions. Sir, my first question is that we are now increasing our work in the automobile sector. And now EV cars will be coming down. So what I would like to know is whether EV cars require a different page compared with the traditional cars which are being used. This is in particular in the fact that ethanol percentage in petrol is also being increased up to 20%. And there may be other reasons for having a different paint. Sir, my next question is that the BR and SR report has been prepared on stand-alone basis. Sir that report should be prepared on consolidated basis, that only we will get a complete idea about the working of the company in a brief report. Sir then, we are enjoying a number of patents. What I would like to know is whether these are product patents or their process patents because it is important to learn the things which we are enjoying. Sir, my next question is regarding and got also chairman emphasize that we are also moving from share in surface to share in space. Sir, what I would like to know is what is the percentage which we are enjoying, as far as our work on space area of our activities is expansional and how we are planning to expand it in the times to come. Sir, I would also like to understand that new large paint companies are coming up such as Maruti, JSW Steel, Grasim industries and to some extent, Pidilite also. All these are giant companies. In what way are we likely to be affected as a result of introduction and perhaps program in the times to come. Sir, then I would also like to understand that in all of our decorative things or businesses, other paints. I hope you are taking every step in avoiding plastics from long-term point of view, it is necessary. And I would like to understand what particular steps is being taken by the company? Sir, the other thing which I wanted to know that the petroleum prices have gone down considerably. And therefore, are we substituting petrol in place of other oils like our castor oil or castor seal oil and other things? And, how it is likely to benefit as far as our cost structure is concerned? Sir, with this, I wish your organization every success in all our efforts, which has become a way of life. And sir, this year, you have put all shareholders also on alert by keeping their videos on even though they will not be speaking. Well, anyway, this is a new idea, and I appreciate so that the shareholders may also remain alert, as they are being seen by the participants, particularly in the directors. Namaste to all of you.

Thank you, sir. I now request to Mr. Aspit Besinia to speak, please?

Sir can you see and hear me?

Yes, sir.

Sir, I'm Aspit from Bombay. Sir, outside, I would like to know why no physical AGM, when other companies are having physical AGMs. So as if the government extends the date for virtual meeting, please hold a physical AGM. Sir, you should have an app for AGM, where we can enter our own without any host letting us in because sometimes it takes a long time for a host to allow the entry. And sir, during the year, competition is increasing. Is it possible to acquire a company to eliminate competition? During the year, INR 1.48 crores untamed dividend was transferred to IEPF. This is shareholders right, and you should not just quietly transfer to IEPF. Please your target of reducing the unpaid dividend by 10% every year to the share department. If the share department doesn't achieve its target, no increment for the year. Sir, the moment [indiscernible] and the company secretaries keep on sending reminders and thereafter, nothing happens. Sir, again, 2.58 lakh shares have been transferred to IEPF. That, again, is too much. Please try to reduce that also. So as suggested by Yousuf Rangwala, you should teach the shareholders how to paint. So thank you very much, and all the best for the future.

Thank you. I now invite Mr. Bhavesh Shah and Mr. Sumita Shah to speak.

[Foreign Language]

Please speak.

[Foreign Language]

Yes, ma'am. Please speak.

Thank you, sir. [Foreign Language]

Ms. Shah, there is a network issue at your residence. Can you please repeat again?

Hello?

Yes, ma'am, we can hear you now, ma'am. Please continue.

Okay. Okay. [Foreign Language]

Thank you. Thank you, Ma'am. I now invite Mr. Dara Jamadar to speak.

Good morning, and greetings of today to the respected Chairman and to all the Board members. My name is Dr. Dara Jamadar, I am a proud shareholder and a customer from Surat Gujarat. I would like to congratulate each and every stakeholder of the company on performing tremendously well, outperforming the peers and posting robust and impactable numbers, both on Q-on-Q and Y-o-Y basis in such a volatile environment. Sir, like every year, it is an honor and a memorable moment to get an opportunity to have an insightful conversation with you on different aspects and attend such AGM. I would also, like to bring to your notice and acknowledge and appreciate services of Corporate Secretarial Department, particularly of Mr. Sahil Waqar, which my fellow shareholders also the same. Some of my questions, which I would like to -- I would request you to address are: first, how much has fallen crude price helped the company in improving the profitability and its margin? Second, coping up with the competition in the core segment has been done quite elegantly. But, is my company facing any major challenges in any other noncore segments? What are the steps taken to translate the same success story in other noncore segments also? Third, delaying monsoon rising inflation rate and lower spending in rural area of India is posing some stiff resistance to the profits of our company. How is the company planning to manage it? Fourth, what is the company's outlook on the international markets wherein we are exporting? Fifth, can we expect a new noncore segment are companies exploring and going to enter in this particular fiscal year? Sixth, in the last couple of years, our company is developing technology of depending low on raw materials, particularly like crude oil, which is highly volatile. And depending more on raw material like water to bring down the uncertainty and the cost. How is that development going on and how much scalability has already been employed in manufacturing the paint? Seven, what steps has my company taken for wellness of its employees in the last fiscal year? I would also like to thank the management on answering each and every question via mail and seldom does any management do so. So sir, thank you very much for addressing each and every questions. Thank you. .

Thank you. I now invite Mr. Praful Chauda to speak, please.

Hello, sir.

Yes, sir.

Good morning. [Foreign Language]

Thank you, sir. I now invite Mr. Sunil Kumar Moda to speak.

Hello.

Yes, sir. We are able to hear you.

Okay. okay. Thank you sir. [Foreign Language] Respected Chairman, Board of Directors, Company Secretary, Managing Director and my fellow shareholders. Sunil Moda from Calcutta, my residence, is joining this meeting. Sir, ours is the best leading #1 paint company in our country, proud to be a member shareholder of such extreme company and like to thank management and secretarial department to give an opportunity to speak on the 77th AGM, providing all necessary health, as and when required and also a hard copy provided on request. Sir, very good demonstration, Chairman's speech. Very good, very attractive, very informative, very impressive. [Foreign Language] Excellent vision by our company under able guidance and control, our company made a brilliant result this financial year. Sir, what is your CapEx program and road map for the next 2 years? CSR activities is very good. Sir, cancer is nowadays a threating and alarming to our society. Do something for the cancer victims, as a part of your CSR activities? Sir, I want to know our employee strength and male/female ratio. Are there any specialty challenge people in our workforce and if yes, how many? Sir, new employment you provided this financial year and coming year, you'd like to add, please mention. Sir, make it convenient to make it get together among the shareholders [indiscernible]. So the shareholders could meet you from time to time. Sir, do arrange a plant visit if possible, as we're eager to see our sophisticated plants. I have casted e-voting, supporting all resolutions in favor of the company and also my family members do this e-voting. With this, I conclude and I hope we will next -- we'll meet next year with good results. Thank you very much for patient hearing.

Thank you, sir. I now invite Mr. [indiscernible] Mascarenas to speak, please?

Mr. Mascarenas, we request you to umute your mic. No, sir. We can't hear you yet. Please unmute your microphone. Sir, please press okay on your screen. We have sent you a prompt.

Yes. Yes. can you hear me?

Yes, sir.

Okay. Respected Chairman sir, very distinguished members of the Board and my fellow shareholders. Good afternoon to you all. My name is [indiscernible] Mascarenas. At the outset and the Management, Company Secretary and the team for sending with a e-balance sheet. Though, I, wanted a physical copy because of my age 75, it's difficult to receive the e-balance sheet. Anyway, the Chairman has beautifully presented in his speech, the highlights of our company. The -- all the parameters, financial parameters and our products which has gone from the world. And I'm happy to note that we are doing extremely well about PBT, PAT has gone up and so also a dividend. As compared to last year, this year, you have declared a very good dividend of INR 25.65 versus INR 19.75 last year, a growth of 34%. The dividend payout also has increased by 60%. Sir, very good. Now my humble question being the 77th year, most of the company declared bonus in the 75th year. We have not done so. So hopefully, we are looking forward for a bonus. When was the large bonus declared. And, I would also like to know, being a paint company, a very competitive company. Who are our peers and competitors? And what is our market share? Also, I would like to know, whether we export to various countries of the world. So I would like to know which countries? Why I ask this question is the rupee dollar fluctuation, the rising dollar against a falling rupee. If we are an export company, we stand to gain by dollar terms. So, I would like to know what is the revenue our company has generated by exporting? And I would -- I'm happy to note that more scores have been established in that country. And we are into renewable energy and also ESG rating. The ESG platform has been done. Sir, I would also -- somebody had pointed out that about the unpaid dividend and unpaid shares is very heartening because it's a hard earned money of the shareholders. So many companies send reminders to those who have not got direct dividend. I would like that the company sends dividend warrants across to the registered address and see that the dividend and the shares are given in the hands of the shareholders. Sir, I think more to add because most of the questions have been asked by my predecessor shareholders, I would also join and with them for a factory visit because seeing is believing. Last, I don't want to say I would give the chance to others to speak. So with this, I end my speech, we're seeing you personally all the board members and more importantly, all the employees, all the very best in the days and years to come. With this, sir, thank you very much for patient hearing. God bless you, our Board and our employees and our company. Thank you very much for patient hearing. Thank you.

Chairman sir, we request you to please take over.

I want to thank you all for your participation and for your constructive suggestions and comments. With reference to questions on rewarding shareholders, we believe in a combination of both long-term, as well as short-term returns to the shareholders. The dividend payout has increased consistently over the years. Apart from this, we will continue to evaluate all other means, including bonus and rights issues to reward the shareholders in future. On the area of new competition emerging in the paint industry, while your company will watch out for the strategies adopted by the new competition, we will continue to focus on our core strengths. We will work on expanding our scale through newer value propositions and look at making our products accessible to a larger part of the market. However, even today, the per capita paid consumption in India is much lower, as compared to some of the other comparable markets. And hence, the market offers strong growth potential for everyone to grow. We are confident of retaining our leadership through our customer-first innovative approach. On the question regarding our Home Décor plans, the company intends to transition from share of surface to share of space, and enable it to play a larger part in the customer's life cycle of home makeover. The Home Décor business today makes up about 4% of the decorative business revenues and our plan is to grow this to about 8% to 10% over the next 3 to 4 years by continuously looking on expanding its Home Décor product and service portfolio. With reference to the question on investment in backward integration areas, all these investments will support in the longer-term growth objective to the company, and also help us support our margins in the emerging competitive landscape by helping us to improve on the raw material cost as well as sourcing. As far as investing in Northeast, we would like to highlight that the company is undertaking various brownfield expansions in its current manufacturing plants, as well as looking at new greenfield plant in Madhya Pradesh. We will evaluate further capacity requirements in other parts of the country, including the Northeast depending on how various regional demand and supply gaps emerge in future. With respect to falling crude prices, crude-based derivative is one of the key raw material categories that we consume in paint manufacturing. Over the last 2 quarters, we have seen a reduction in the prices of many key raw materials, including group derivatives. This has helped in improving the gross margins by almost 6% to 6.5% in the second half of the year. Monsoon is very critical for a strong rural consumption demand. To sustain and hence, the company is watching out for the progress of the monsoons in the next couple of months. From our side, we continue to support the demand from rural areas, but continuously looking at expanding our distribution reach, as well as bringing out innovative new products in the economy price range. While the company has a very strong balance sheet and can raise resource whenever required, the company's philosophy is to retain adequate and sufficient funds on the balance sheet to pursue any opportunities that can emerge in terms of new investments to further the strengthens companies standing in the marketplace. The increase in borrowings in stand-alone balance sheet is on account of interest-free loans from the government of Karnataka, as part of the industrial promotion scheme for setting up Mysuru plant. At a consolidated level, the increase in borrowings is due to increased working capital requirements in some of our international subsidiaries, and also towards fresh investments made to support operations in Indonesia. With respect to a query on BRSR, last year, the company had published BRSR voluntarily. The company has this year published the report on standalone basis. We will endeavor to include our subsidiaries and report BRSR on a consolidated basis in the coming years. Dear members, while we have endeavored to respond to all the queries raised by you during this meeting, and also which was sent to us in advance, in case any of them have remained unanswered, the company's secretary will suitably respond to you post this AGM. Members may note that the voting on the NSDL platform will continue to be available for the next 15 minutes. Therefore, members who have not cast their vote yet, are requested to do so. The resolutions as set forth in the notice shall be deemed to be passed today, subject to receipt of requisite number of votes. We had 150-plus members participating today, in this 77th Annual General Meeting. We are grateful to all our shareholders from all over the world, who joined this meeting through videoconference. Friends, with that, I conclude today's proceedings. Thank you all for making it convenient to attend this meeting. We look forward to seeing you again next year. Be safe, be healthy.