Eveready Industries India Ltd

Dear Shareholders,

It is with great pleasure that I present our annual report for the financial year 2023-24. This report highlights our resilience and momentum amidst the evolving market landscape.

As a leading legacy brand, Eveready has touched millions of lives across both rural and urban India. Our ongoing journey is dedicated to reinforcing Eveready's reputation for quality, innovation, and trust.

As a leading legacy brand, Eveready has touched millions of lives across both rural and urban India. Our ongoing journey is dedicated to reinforcing Eveready's reputation for quality, innovation, and trust.

I am pleased to introduce our new brand identity, which represents limitless energy and endless possibilities. Our new logo reflects Eveready's commitment to continuous improvement and innovation. This refreshed identity highlights our dedication to evolving and growing, contributing to India's impressive progress on the global stage.

At the heart of our operations lie responsible business practices that steer our endeavours towards sustainability and community impact, with a pronounced focus on environmental sustainability and energy conservation.

On behalf of the Board, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to our shareholders, business partners, and customers for their continued support. I would also like to thank our employees for their contribution and dedication. As we embark on a new growth path, I am confident that together, we will persist in achieving sustainable outcomes for the years ahead.

Dear Shareholders,

I am delighted to present this annual report to you and would like to take this opportunity to share with you insights into our journey over the past year and my thoughts on the road ahead. On the macroeconomic landscape, India remains firm as the world's fastest-growing major economy, unleashing possibilities so far thought impossible for millions of Indians. The rich diversity, and extensive regional and cultural variations make our nation standout as a vibrant potpourri of opportunities. Moreover, the vast, aspirational young population, complemented by a surging disposable income and deepening global integration through its digital-first economy, positions India as an intriguing landscape for growth. This combination of robust economic expansion, a consumption-based ecosystem, enhanced connectivity, and socio-economic reforms, offers opportunities which inspire us to strive for success. As we navigate this exciting phase, delivering value and contributing to India's growth story form the crux of our future endeavours.

AMPLIFYING OUR BRAND PROMINENCE

Today, the brand Eveready holds a formidable presence and strong recall across its product categories, which includes batteries, flashlights, and lighting solutions. Our robust brand prominence continues to positively impact our businesses, amplifying their performance and visibility within the markets. We undertook a brand refresh during the year to make ourselves more contemporary and appealing to our younger consumers, in the process of which we unveiled our new brand logo. We hope to build a greater connect with the next generation and their vision of infinite possibilities. Our new brand identity will complement the introduction of new products catering to diverse and evolving consumer needs. Leveraging our association with power and energy, our identity signifies limitless potential and a commitment to vibrancy, modernity and trust, as we re-emphasize with our iconic and timeless ‘Give Me Red' ethos.

We undertook a brand refresh during the year to make ourselves more contemporary and appealing to our younger consumers, in the process of which we unveiled our new brand logo. We hope to build a greater connect with the next generation and their vision of infinite possibilities.

The launch of our new range of alkaline batteries with ‘Ultima Pro' and ‘Ultima' branding is perfectly in sync with these objectives. Furthermore, we unveiled the ‘Khelenge Toh Sikhenge' campaign in collaboration with Neeraj Chopra, the Olympic and World champion, who is our new ambassador, reflecting our values of continuous learning through every day living.

TRANSFORMING DISTRIBUTION

Another key strength of your Company is in the area of distribution. Traditionally, your Company gets counted as one of the top consumer companies in terms of reach – which goes into the deepest interiors of our country. A numeric count of presence in outlets exceeding 4 million is a living proof of that. Yet in order to make the systems more modern and to enhance market reach efficiency, we intensified our focus on reinforcing our distribution channels. We initiated a major transformation with a revised route to market. While this will stand your Company in good stead in the long run, we did face some immediate challenges, which we have resolved gradually. Additionally, we widened our channels and went beyond traditional trade to encompass modern retail, e-commerce, quick commerce, and institutional sales. These diversified avenues are poised to drive significant growth for us in the years to come.

OUR PEOPLE

Our employees are our driving force. Thereby, investing in human resources remains a top priority, with a strong emphasis on talent development, aligned with our organisational growth objectives. We bolster our talent pool through a combination of internal development initiatives and external recruitment, ensuring that we have a top-notch team, inspired to propel growth and capable of delivering exceptional results.

PROMISING PERFORMANCE FOR THE FISCAL

Looking at our financial performance, the fiscal year served as a year of consolidation, during which we focused on enhancing efficiencies and laying a robust foundation for future growth. As we navigated through a transformation journey in our route to market, and notwithstanding major challenges, including weak rural demand affecting batteries and flashlights, as well as industry-wide price deflation impacting the lighting segment, our total income from operations remained steady. We, however, recorded significant gains in the operating margins, as well as both in the profit before and after tax. These achievements further strengthen our resolve to drive premiumisation, foster continuous innovation, and enhance operational efficiency.

In the battery segment, we continued to sustain our commanding market share of over 53%, reinforcing our brand's synonymous association with the category. As briefly mentioned earlier, we introduced our new range of Ultima alkaline batteries to cater to the evolving market needs and this met with enthusiastic consumer response. The year saw demand being adversely affected due to slow offtakes from the rural segment, albeit this being a temporary phenomenon. Overall, the business is driven by an extensive range of batteries, positioned to benefit from premiumisation trends and volume growth, stemming from enhanced household consumption, especially with the device penetration increasing in our country with growing affluence. In the flashlights segment, we continued to lead as the largest organised and branded name. Recognising the growth in rechargeable flashlights, we have revamped our range with new feature-rich products. Despite the decline in sales of traditional battery-operated flashlights, the growth in the rechargeable segment positions us for overall handsome growth in the future. In the lighting segment, we pursue a dual distribution strategy. Our comprehensive product line is accessible through general trade channels, allowing us to reach every corner of the country. Simultaneously, we are enhancing our presence in the exclusive lighting network. This is facilitated by a sophisticated product portfolio that connects with consumers as well as influencers, such as electricians and architects. Despite the industry-wide price deflation seen during the year, we remain committed to this business as a significant growth driver for your Company.

ROBUST ROAD AHEAD

Looking ahead, we anticipate substantial revenue growth driven by our focus on high-value products and our robust market share. With our refined route-to-market strategy expected to yield stronger results and enhanced efficiency, we expect a significant upswing in business outcomes. We firmly believe that our growth trajectory should align with healthy profitability, marking a positive trend in our performance. In ending, I express my heartfelt gratitude to our shareholders, the Board of Directors, the entire leadership team, and our employees for their belief in our organisation and its ability to create lasting value. With your continued collaboration and support, I am confident that your Company will shape a future defined by sustained prosperity and shared success.