Dear Shareholder,
The year since the last Annual General Meeting has been a most eventful one for your
Company and the country. It started with a new government beginning to implement a number
of policy decisions and clearing some of the systemic impediments to the smooth
functioning of the economy. The sharp fall in global oil prices coupled with reduction of
the fiscal deficit resulted in a much healthier economy. The signsforthe future indeed
seem good.
Closer to home, as you probably know by now, your Company recently took a major
decision to divest its stake in its joint venture, Henkel Chembond Surface Technologies
Ltd. This decision, as you can imagine, was not an easy one to make especially since Your
Company was founded with these pioneering metal treatment chemicals by Dr. Vinod D. Shah
in the early seventies. Having achieved a top tier position in the country against global
competition in its initial days itself, the joining of hands with Henkel, led to your
Company's jointventure becoming the market leaderin India.
Ultimately though, it was an objective decision to focus on businesses where your
Company holds more management control and where growth and profits are not subjected to
factors outside those of the economy. YourCompany believes that joint ventures need to be
run in the true spirit of partnership and is proud of the fact that even in joint ventures
where it has a majority, decisions are taken by consensus and only in the best interests
of the company.
Moving forward, Chembond will be investing in and focusing on growth via organic and
inorganic means on its promising businesses of,
• Water treatment, where Chembond uniquely offers the entire spectrum of specialty
chemicals, equipment systems and bio-remediation solutions fortreatment of intake water,
process water and waste water enabling recycling;
• Construction chemicals, where the range of superior performance products serve
all stages and segments of the new construction and repairindustry;
• Coatings where your Company is in the process of consolidating its high
performance and industrial coatings businesses and developing greener, waterborne
coatings;
• Animal Nutrition which has shown promising growth over the last few years based
on the higher emphasis by farmers and industry on nutrition, bio security and introduction
of modern practices;
• Protochem, a 100% subsidiary, which has introduced a wide range of maintenance
and repair (MRO) products and which will continue to develop its portfolio of products
forthe defence industry.
Furthermore, your Company has ventured into two businesses, which are attheir
incubation stage:
• As has been mentioned last year, your Company started making a foray in the
polymers domain. The plan is to develop unique bio-based polymers, which in addition to
being renewable, offer performance characteristics better than conventional polymers.
Chembond has been able to attract Dr. Prakash D. Trivedi to the Board of Directors to help
guide these efforts. Dr. Trivedi is recognized as one of the foremost authorities and
credited with pioneering work in this field. The results of his joining the Board are
already being seen and Your Company can proudly state that it has filed its first patent
this year.
• Your Company has just formed a new partnership with Calvatis GmbH in the form of
a 55:45 joint venture called Chembond Calvatis Industrial Hygiene Systems Ltd. This joint
venture would focus on serving the dairy, beverage, brewing and food processing industry
with world-class specialty chemicals, services and equipment solutions for cleaning and
hygiene management.
We remain focused on translating the potential of the Indian economy through our strong
business portfolio and positioning into a profitable growth for all of you.
With warm regards,
| Sameer V. Shah |
Nirmal V. Shah |
| Chairman and Managing Director |
Managing Director |
| 6th July, 2015 |
|