Anand Burman takes charge as non-executive chairman of Eveready Industries

Anand Burman has been appointed non-executive chairman of Eveready Industries in the first board meeting since the Burman family – promoters of Dabur India – took control of the company.

The post of chairman in the country’s largest dry cell battery maker has been vacant since Aditya Khaitan, the younger son of late Brij Mohan Khaitan, stepped down as the non-executive chairman following the announcement of open offer by the Burman family earlier this year. 

The offer closed last month following which the Burmans became promoters of Eveready, and the board approved the appointment of their nominees. Apart from Anand Burman, the others who made it to the board were Mohit Burman and Arjun Lamba as non-executive directors. In addition, Sunil Alagh was appointed as an independent director.  

In Eveready, the current holding of the Burman Group stands at 38.3 per cent. 

Results

Meanwhile, higher raw material costs affected the net profit, with the company reporting a 27.48 per cent drop in consolidated net profit year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 21.85 crore in the June quarter. In the previous quarter, Eveready posted a net loss of Rs 38.41 crore.

Revenues from operations stood at Rs 335.38 crore in the the quarter, which the company described as ‘challenging’.  

Eveready said that the growth in topline was backed by volume gains, despite a market slowdown due to inflationary conditions.

The firm also said that being the largest player in the dry cell batteries market, the company was leveraging its expertise to introduce new products in the market that would set the revenue momentum for the next few years.

The bottomline was impacted by rise in raw material prices which the company said could not be fully passed on. It added that business overheads that were curtailed in the previous year due to the pandemic restrictions had returned.

Commenting on the performance, Managing Director Suvamoy Saha said that the performance was realised, despite the challenges due to inflationary conditions.

“Given the strong recall enjoyed by Eveready, we are making all efforts to create momentum across segments through an enhanced portfolio that will be supported by our core strengths,” he said.