At BKM Industries, we see this year as a new beginning.
Following a business de-merger a few years ago, the Company emerged
with a stronger focus on its longstanding strengths in the packaging business of cap and
closure manufacture.
We believe that the de-merger empowered the Company to deepen its
presence in its core business on the one hand and liberated it to seek wider and
synergistic opportunities on the other.
In line with the new-found hunger to grow the business, the Company
re-branded itself away from the erstwhile Manaksia Industries Limited to become BKM
Industries Limited. The new name captures the initials of the Company's promoter on the
one hand and showcases the Company's new personality on the other.
BKM Industries is a future-focused company with enhanced confidence to
address new sectors, business and geographies. The reinvented company will make a more
extensive use of its people, practices, knowledge and infrastructure to enter adjacent
business spaces (as in the manufacture of PET bottles, caps and closures), providing
higher value-addition and the opportunity to extend beyond products to solutions. The
Company intends to utilise its assets more optimally (as in the steel business),
generating incremental revenues and a higher return on employed capital. Besides, the
Company intends to enter completely new verticals (agro trading) with a large operating
leverage in terms of the number of products and the long-term potential in the business.
At BKM Industries, we are focused on shareholder value accretion. We believe that during
the current year, the Company should be able to commission new facilities or reactivate
existing businesses with the objective to enhance revenues and surpluses. The Company is
diversifying its packaging operations across Bangladesh, Africa and Sri Lanka with
manufacturing facilities expected to be commissioned by next year. In Africa, the Company
plans to enter the manufacture of PET bottles,
ROPP caps and crown closures. The Company's steel operations in Georgia
are scheduled to commence in 2018, capitalising on improved market conditions. The Company
plans to make fresh investments in its marine business and emerge as one of the most
efficient marine units in Eastern India. The Company is also seeking opportunities in the
design and manufacture of fish trawler, barges and tug boats. Besides, we believe that our
agro-trading business will generate positive returns from 2018-19 onwards, the first full
year of the business. The interplay of these initiatives is expected to kick start growth
and translate into robust business sustainability.
Our economy is robust. Our nation has emerged as the fastest growing
major economy in the world is expected to be one of top three economic powers in the next
10-15 years. This growth in the Indian economy is being backed by a proactive government.
The secret to change is focusing all energy, not on fighting old
systems but building new ones. In the past couple of years, there have been a lot of
changes in the Indian economy. The single largest reform has been the implementation of
GST. This game changing reform has benefited the economy greatly. Besides simplifying the
tax structure, it has increased demand and supply of goods and widened the nation's tax
base. From BKM's perspective, GST has been highly beneficial to us. It has initiated a
shift of power from the unorganised to the organised players which have enhanced the
revenues of our packaging division.
On an ending note I would like to say we are extremely optimistic about
the coming year and the new initiatives and businesses that we have undertaken should
translate into healthy margins and enhance value of all our stakeholders.
Basant Kumar Agrawal,
Chairman