Dear Shareholders
2018 was a good year for crop as we made our highest since 2013. However, higher
costing dampened profitability, and we have made a loss of Rs. 0.53 crores. This is
disappointing, and as a company we must improve the efficiency of our plantations.
We require full access to government schemes on the tea garden such as rations,
medicine and electricity. Tea companies cannot be responsible for providing welfare to the
villages within the estate, when we have ceded control over attendance and productivity.
We must be free to choose who to employ and when to employ them.
We also want greater assistance from local police and politicians with drainage, theft
and encroachment issues. Somewhere along the line, we have lost sight of the fact that
these villages and communities exist because of the tea garden, not in spite of it.
In addition we call upon the Tea Board to release subsidies on time and in full. It is
the Government's duty to honor the commitments made in the 12th and 13th Plan.
Our investments have fared well this year; with the exception of our half a percent
holding in Warren Tea Limited (WTL). WTL performed poorly yet again in 2018 with a loss of
Rs. 23 crores before tax. At a PAT level we have now outperformed WTL by 10 times
cumulatively in the 7 years since our demerger in 2013.
Like WTL many of our peers are suffering huge and unsustainable losses. We would like a
level playing field between the organised and unorganised sectors. One step towards this
is to monetise rations and other benefits. Another would be a minimum price on tea to
discourage the production of poor quality bought leaf tea.
The crux of the challenge facing those in the business of operating tea plantations is
that wages have more than doubled since 2012, whilst selling prices have remained flat.
In spite of all these challenges I remain optimistic. Resilience is in our DNA. From
our tea bushes to our people, James Warren is resilient and we will continue to stand up
to outside pressures to be well placed when this current cycle turns.
Akhil Kumar Ruia
Chief Executive Officer