Kolkata, September 26, 2024

The 107th Annual General Meeting of Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd., a Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India was held on 26th September 2024.

Below is an extract of the Chairman’s Speech:

India is in its Amrit Kaal and surging ahead to be a global powerhouse and the Indian Economy is set to surpass Japan and Germany to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2029. One of the key drivers of India’s future growth momentum is the huge investments being made to develop the physical infrastructure across the country. Various initiatives and policies undertaken by the Government is giving a fillip to India’s economic growth and has helped develop a business-conducive framework. The impact is visible as India has emerged as the fastest growing major economy, has recorded consistent growth in GST collections, exhibited steady growth in exports and has emerged as an attractive destination for foreign investors.

 

Overall Financial Performance

The Company recorded a net turnover of Rs.2,40,416.53 lakhs during FY 2023-24 as against Rs.2,38,309.16 lakhs in FY 2022-23, which is an increase of 0.88% over last year. The Company recorded a Profit Before Tax of Rs.27,865.34 lakhs in FY 2023-24 as against Rs.21,130.23 lakhs in FY 2022-23 which is an increase of 31.87% over last year. The increase is attributable to the remarkable performance by all the manufacturing businesses as well as the Travel vertical. The Reserve and Surplus of the Company increased to Rs.1,25,621.43 lakhs as on 31st March, 2024 as compared to Rs.1,18,524.12 lakhs as on 31st March, 2023.

 

Performance of Strategic Business Units (SBUs)

Balmer Lawrie is a diversified PSU with a presence in both manufacturing and service sectors.

Industrial Packaging (SBU: IP) – The SBU recorded its highest ever drums sales this fiscal and expects to continue its growth trajectory during FY 2024-25 with the biggest drivers being the Chemicals, Food, Transformer Oils and Lubes segments. The SBU is continuously working on enhancing its product portfolio and explore new export markets for its products.

Greases & Lubricants (SBU: G&L) – The outlook for the business remains positive for the next few years. SBU: G&L has taken a strategic initiative to sign MOUs with PSU Oil Marketing Companies and is planning to aggressively expand its digital marketing activities for increasing the brand exposure of BALMEROL. Along with retaining and expanding its traditional industrial base, the SBU intends to sharply enhance its presence in the automotive sector by expanding the product basket, increasing its distribution network and judiciously enhancing its marketing and branding presence.

Chemicals (SBU: Chemicals) – The SBU has a significant market share in wet end operations and has forayed into the finishing chemicals segment by launching its in-house finishing chemicals. The SBU has also entered the Textile Chemicals and Agro Chemicals market by launching products which have synergies like textile binder, wetting agent, etc. The SBU is well equipped to explore opportunities for growth and improve business in the coming years.

Logistics Infrastructure (SBU: LI) – The outlook for SBU: LI is promising, driven by several positive trends and opportunities in the logistics and supply chain sectors. The expected growth in both imports and exports, improved connectivity through Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), port connectivity and improved hinterland infrastructure along with adoption of technology in operations will benefit the SBU in future. The Company had undertaken initiatives for expansion of its warehousing facilities during the last financial year in CFS - Kolkata and CFS – Chennai, which are now being optimally utilised. In addition to this, SBU: LI is in the process of expanding its open yard area in CFS - Chennai to cater to the increasing demands on the export front.

Logistics Services (SBU: LS) – The SBU has been successful in significantly increasing its business share in the private segment along with retaining business from major GOI and CPSU customers despite the unprecedented volatility owing to geo-political events. The SBU now aspires to focus and further increase its market share in private business by strengthening its Sales and Marketing capability through proactive brand positioning, event participation and enhancement of its social media platforms to reach the next higher level.

Cold Chain (SBU: CC) – The Cold Chain units under the brand LOGICOLD has been providing services through its four state-of-the-art Temperature-Controlled Warehouses (TCWs) along with value added services like pre-cooling, pre-conditioning, ripening, packaging, blast freezing, etc. and primary and secondary logistics through Temperature-Controlled Vehicles (TCVs). The market has benefitted significantly from the stringent regulations governing the production and supply of temperature-sensitive products. The industry is poised for growth owing to the surge in demand of organised retail sectors, quick service restaurants and e-commerce. The Pharma segment in India has also witnessed rapid growth over the years. Food and pharma both the industries are highly sensitive and demands state-of-the-art TCWs and TCVs to fulfil their storage and distribution needs and the stringent standards offer a widening space for LOGICOLD to grow in the industry.

Travel & Vacations (SBU: T&V) – This SBU has two verticals viz., Travel and Vacations.

Travel – Balmer Lawrie was the first to launch a dedicated Self-Booking portal for Government employees, which has been a great success and has been able to achieve a significant mind and market share amongst its target customer base. The tailored product for Defence personnel, Defence Travel System (DTS) has also seen a substantial growth in the number of tickets and users. As an initiative towards technology, the SBU was successful in onboarding various corporate clients on Standard Self Booking Tool (SSBT) and is now poised to bring more services (hotels, cabs) to drive non-ticketing revenue. The Travel Business has clocked the highest turnover, profit and highest number of Tickets in FY 2023-24.

Vacations - The Vacations vertical is a one-stop-shop for all travel and holiday needs, offering a wide range of services to various customer segments and has a strong presence in the market with a large network of branch locations. The Vacations vertical has taken initiatives to strengthen the internal operations, enhance brand visibility through social media and upgrade technology to offer better customer service. It launched a dedicated call centre and introduced new products in GIT / domestic segments, which is expected to contribute to the overall growth of the vertical. The vertical is now focusing on domestic and international leisure travel, including inbound tourism as a new segment of business.

Refinery & Oil Field Service (SBU: ROFS) – The SBU intends to leverage its experience in project execution and wide base of satisfied clientele to foray into allied service areas through diversifying its service offerings. The demand for sludge processing services is expected to be stagnant in the near term and diversification into other allied areas is being explored.