V-Guard Ind.Ltd. Chairman Speech

DEAR SHAREHOLDERS,

THE TRANSFORMATIONAL JOURNEY WE HAD EMBARKED ON A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO IS TAKING US ACROSS NEW HORIZONS. IT HAS OPENED FOR US NEW VISTAS OF POSSIBILITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES. AND IT HAS UNLEASHED WITHIN US THE IMAGINATIVE POWERS NEEDED TO RIDE THOSE OPPORTUNITIES IN OUR QUEST TO INSPIRE A BETTER TOMORROW FOR OUR CONSUMERS AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS.

FY19 was a year of redefining our strategic agenda to propel us along the growth trajectory more effectively and impactfully. It was a year of identifying new priorities as we surged forward towards reimagining the systems and processes of today, to build our capabilities for inspiring a better and brighter future.

ASPIRATIONAL SHIFTS

Sensing new opportunities in the present-day challenges, we prepared our roadmap for the future to give a further fillip to our future readiness, taking a major leap forward on our growth trajectory. It was a year of digging deeper into the consumer mind, seeking out their evolving aspirations and needs, and restructuring our business approach to fulfil those needs.

As we embraced the new aspirational trend of increased premiumisation in the market, we made a strategic shift towards thoughtful, high-margin products with strong emotional attributes to challenge the traditional and more rational consumption patterns. Moving judiciously towards a more elaborate and efficient in-house manufacturing platform, we made manufacturing excellence a key mantra to lead us towards exponential growth in product capability. At the same time, we scaled our back-end transformation efforts to accelerate the pace of our futuristic journey.

Led by the goal of becoming the brand of relevance and first choice for consumers within our established Southern markets as well as the newly forayed non-South markets, we activated a three-tier digital strategy - across channels, products and enterprise, to guide us towards a more inspirational future. A smarter, contemporary and digitally connected product portfolio will, in our opinion, be a critical engine to enhance our value proposition for the future.

With our strong consumer insights to lead us, we saw the potential of the new channels emerging from the transforming industry trends and decided to adopt a unique ‘Different Models Different Channels’ approach to channelise our growth plans. Strong partnerships and collaborations, which have always been a key pillar of our strategic charter, will play an even more crucial role in the reimagined strategic framework of our market-oriented and consumer-centric business approach.

STRATEGIC REALIGNMENTS

Our strategic reorientation has become extremely relevant in the changing industry environment, which is witnessing a new and more intense wave of competition. I am happy to say that we, at V-Guard, have equipped ourselves well to sustain our growth momentum on this competitive landscape, while augmenting our brand equity to connect more deeply with the consumer of tomorrow.

The strategic planning exercise we have undertaken will continue to bring in more efficiencies, more inspirational moments of accomplishment, and more profitable growth as we move forward. What is important for us is to remain flexible in approach, and ready to make timely strategic realignments in our business model to keep pace with the evolving consumer aspirations and needs. Such flexibility shall lend us the necessary agility and adaptability to continuously reimagine the present and inspire the future, while constantly augmenting our consumer-led value proposition.

In this endeavour, we shall continue to focus dedicatedly on our sustained efforts to boost innovation, R&D and new product development, and roll out differentiated products with distinctive features in markets across the country. Creating more meaningful consumer engagement through more thoughtful products is at the heart of this inspiring future strategy, with which we shall also strive to strengthen and expand our consumer touchpoints.

INSPIRING A BETTER FUTURE

At V-Guard, we believe that the future which we have mapped with our new strategic framework will inspire a better life for every stakeholder of the Company. Our roadmap for tomorrow is designed to deliver profitable growth to our various stakeholders, while being structured to drive sustainable progress for the communities in which we operate.

As we move along our clearly defined growth trajectory, we remain strategically focussed on minimising our carbon footprint and creating positive interventions in the lives of those we touch. Going forward, we shall continue to make important investments in improving the lives of the underprivileged sections of the society, particularly in the communities around our manufacturing facilities. The connect we have built with all our stakeholders will be strengthened further, year on year, as we strive harder to inspire a better future for all of them.

IN CONCLUSION

With this promise, I would like to thank all the stakeholders of the Company for their unwavering support and cooperation. They have partnered us at every step of our journey, and are indispensable, individually and collectively, to our efforts to create a more dynamic, vibrant and prosperous tomorrow. Together, let us continue to reimagine the contours of the present so that the future becomes a happier place for all of us to share.

Warm Regards,

Sd/-

Kochouseph Chittilappilly

Chairman