Chairman's Message
Dear Stakeholders,
The financial year 2023-24 has been a milestone year in our transformation journey for
Welspun Corp Ltd. Our new businesses have started contributing towards the Company's
shareholder value, and the milestones achieved are becoming the next stepping stones for
our success. The Company recorded its highest-ever revenue and EBITDA, along with its
strongest-ever operational performance. We have recorded strong volume growth in all our
business entities including Line Pipes, Ductile Iron (Dl) Pipes, Stainless Steel Bars,
Pipes & Tubes, Water Storage Tanks and other Polymer Products. As a testimony to
our sustainability efforts, we are ranked in the top 4 percentile in steel sector globally
in DJSI ratings on Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) parameters. We also achieved
highest ESG score by CRISIL under the basic Iron and Steel industry category.
Our aim is to create value for all our stakeholders by building a diversified business
portfolio strengthened by our engineering excellence, strong customer connect, project
execution capabilities, sustainable innovation and financial prudence. With a keenness to
contribute to India's growth story, our new businesses have strengthened our efforts in
developing the nation's infrastructure and improving the quality of life of citizens,
while also providing employment opportunities.
Financial Performance
This has been a record year for the Company both from a financial and an operational
perspective. Each of our businesses in our Pipe Solutions vertical has exceeded our
expectations and have individually contributed to the Company's growth. Sales volume for
our Line Pipes business (India and USA) grew by 49%, went up by 5x for DI Pipes and our
Stainless Steel Bars and Pipes grew by 89% Y-o-Y. In our Building Materials vertical,
Sintex volumes grew 16% Y-o-Y, and our TMT Rebars saw a rise of 7x Y-o-Y in sales volume.
Backed by this robust operational performance, the business has significantly grown
from INR 9,758 Crores to INR 17,340 Crores in revenue. We have more than doubled our
EBITDA from the previous year. Our PAT for FY24 has jumped by more than 5x. Contribution
of our associate company in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the bottom line also improved
substantially. Our net debt has reduced significantly and our ROCE has improved to 20%
compared to 8% in FY23.
Bringing Smiles to Your Homes - Our Water Solutions
The water sector has been growing exponentially in India, and the demand for pipelines
for this sector has seen a continuous rise. We are seeing a lot of traction coming from
states like Gujarat, MP, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka who are putting up a huge
network of pipeline for irrigation. All these states are witnessing massive
industrialization and urbanization, in turn adding up to demand for our Line Pipes
business.
The Jal Jeevan Mission, Nal Se Jal and AMRUT schemes of the Government of India (GOI)
aim to provide safe and sufficient drinking water to households in both rural and urban
India. We have been contributing towards transportation of drinking water to rural and
urban households in line with these initiatives through our DI Pipes business. This was
the first full year of our DI Pipes business and we have recorded 204,581 tonnes of sales
this year with a strong order backlog making us a credible player in the very first year.
The growth for this business is expected to be strong for the next 5-7 years with various
schemes on drinking water funded by GOI driving this demand. In this backdrop, we are
expanding our capacity from 400,000 tonnes to 600,000 tonnes per annum. We are expecting
our capacity utilization to ramp up at a faster pace in the coming years. Our DI Pipes
business remains one of our key focus areas.
Sintex is an iconic brand with pan India presence, and it has witnessed a great first
year with us. Our focus has been on winning back lost share and scaling up the existing
business. Our water tanks business is gaining traction and we have been working on
strengthening our
distribution network. We have redesigned our engagement programs with retailers and
launched Sintex Pride program for plumber community. This has supported in increasing our
retail network by 30% on Y-on-Y basis. Focusing on the robust potential and strong growth
opportunity in the plastic pipes market, we have announced a capex of INR 2,355 Crores
spread over two years for manufacturing of different types of plastic pipes (including
CPVC, UPVC, HDPE and OPVC pipes) and Water Storage. Along with our existing manufacturing
facilities in six locations, this investment will be made in four states viz. MP,
Telangana, Odisha and J&K helping us gain a pan India presence. We have also signed an
exclusive contract with Rollepaal, one of the two key technology suppliers for OPVC pipes,
which augurs well for our aim to target the premium market segment.
Our acquisition of Sintex and our capacity expansion in the Ductile Iron Pipes business
are aimed towards further strengthening our focus in tapping the huge potential of the
water solutions industry.
ESG - Our Top Priority
Our commitment to ESG has resulted in Welspun Corp being ranked in the Top 4 percentile
in Global Steel Industry in S&P Global's DJSI Corporate Sustainability Assessment. We
achieved a total score of 68, a 19% increase from the previous year score of 57. The
Company is ranked in the Top 2 percentile in the steel sector globally on Governance
scores. We also achieved the highest score in ESG performance across "Basic Industry:
Iron & Steel products" category by CRISIL ESG Rating.
We are making significant progress towards our commitments to achieve carbon neutrality
and water neutrality by 2040. We are on our path to achieving our renewable energy targets
through a combined solar installation of ~4MW across three manufacturing facilities and 42
MW Hybrid RE at Anjar contributing up to 55% renewable electricity by 2026.
We have a very strong focus on governance as well, and we are compliant with all
statutory requirements and policy needs. Our board comprises 50% Independent Directors
with illustrious and diverse backgrounds, with female representation of about 25%. Our
objective is to build an organization that generates a net positive influence on society
and the environment.
Growth Drivers for Line Pipes
Our Pipe Solutions business is performing in line with our expectations. We see a
strong business outlook for our Line Pipes business in all three geographies that we
operate in; India, USA and Saudi Arabia.
Expansion of gas grid pipelines, continued focus on City Gas Distribution pipelines,
huge opportunity in interlinking of rivers and strong push by states including Gujarat,
MP, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka on increasing the water pipeline network for
irrigation, industrialization and urbanization purposes augur well for our Line Pipes
business.
We are seeing the emergence of hydrogen pipelines and carbon capture pipelines,
including ammonia transmission. This is where we see global demand moving onto in the near
future and it is expected to offer big opportunities. We are leading the technical drive
both in domestic as well as international markets with JIP with DNV and partnerships with
key international operators. We are well placed to capitalise on the same as demand rises.
As a Company, we are working closely on technical developments in this area
and we expect to see some key breakthroughs in the coming years.
Our strong engineering capabilities in the Line Pipes segment ensure that we remain
well-positioned to harness these new opportunities and become an established player in
this segment in times to come.
Outlook remains strong in the US and we see at least one of the pipeline projects in
Permian Basin to get concluded in CY2024. We also remain optimistic of booking new orders
to ensure business continuity. In Saudi Arabia, our associate company East Pipes
Integrated Company for Industry (EPIC) has a confirmed order book for more than two years.
Backed by strong Government push, demand for both Oil & Gas and Water pipelines is
increasing exponentially and EPIC now commands a dominating presence in this market.
Way Forward for New Businesses
With a strong growth potential in the MENA region, the Company is setting up a
manufacturing facility for DI Pipes with a capacity of 150,000 tons per annum in the
KSA, expected to be completed by the end of 2025. We are also expanding our DI Pipes
manufacturing capacity in India from 400,000 tonnes to 600,000 tonnes. DI Pipes demand
both in India and KSA market remains very strong and this will continue to remain a key
focus area for us in the foreseeable future. Welspun Specialty Solutions Ltd (WSSL)
continues its transformational journey under a well-defined growth strategy, and it has
witnessed its first year with a profitable bottom line with a complete turnaround. Our
strong focus on R&D has been instrumental in developing and delivering critical grades
to segments including thermal power, nuclear power, defence, petrochemicals, among others.
On Building Materials side, Sintex should continue to garner greater market share in
Water Storage Tanks. We are confident on our foray into PVC pipes, which is also a
synergetic business for Welspun Corp. With strong business potential, we are exploring
various growth options at current and new locations.
For an organization like ours which is undergoing transformation, it is critical for us
to nurture our in-house talent to create a future pipeline of leaders. We believe in
instilling a philosophy of grooming and developing our leaders of tomorrow to undertake
more critical roles at Welspun Corp. We are continuously assessing the current skills of
our people and mapping them with the industry standards to ensure that we bridge gaps, and
provide upskilling opportunities for our Human Capital to grow both professionally and
personally.
On behalf of Welspun Corp's Board of Directors, I want to thank all our shareholders
for their sustained support, and all our customers and business partners for their firm
faith in our endeavors. Let me also take this opportunity to thank our Welspunites, who
have powered our growth and success in FY 2023-24 through their commitment and dedication.
Warm regards,
B.K. Goenka
Chairman.