DSIJ Interview With Raman Chopra CFO GHCL

We need to identify sustainable profit growth opportunities 

Raman Chopra CFO GHCL




In changing times, as a CFO which aspects of the business do you give most meaning to?

As the CFO of GHCL, I do realise the tremendous responsibility I have of spurring the organisation’s growth as well ensuring that we take well thought out spending and investment decisions, ensure optimum ROI, and governance to keep our stakeholders satisfied.

1. At GHCL, the most important task at hand is to enhance the use of technology to facilitate financial integration across the organisation.
2. We need to identify sustainable profit growth opportunities in the existing businesses and explore avenues in the market, keeping in mind the four strategic pillars of business excellence, sustainability, traceability and giving back to the society.
3. The last, but not the least, is the need to solicit conversations around various metrics which affect the diverse set of businesses we are into so as to drive better business performance and fulfil our mission of “Creating value responsibly for our stakeholders”.

According to you, what are the key skills that a CFO must have?

In order to be successful, a CFO must possess: Critical thinking which enables him/her to identify the strengths and weaknesses of various alternative solutions or approach to problems. Ability to listen carefully and be perceptive to the everchanging, volatile and competitive business environment. Agility in thought and action, because as a CFO, there are times when you need to make quick, strategic decisions for the organisation or you may miss the bus.People management and empathy. As a CFO, especially for a business which is diversified, an empathetic attitude coupled with the ability to manage people from diverse backgrounds is the key to driving business performance and growth.

For Q4FY19, the revenue for home textile business increased by around 41 per cent YoY. What is the plan to expand the profits further?

In the home textiles segment, we are now increasing our focus on improving the bottomline and have curtailed insignificant sporadic businesses. We have increased our focus on our four-pillar strategy to create a differentiator for ourselves. We are also tapping some new segments like institutional businesses and speciality sleep shops. We are also looking at regional and tier-II retailers through the offer of a core range that has select collections from our brand.

How will the company’s financials in the future benefit from the greenfield and brownfield projects? There is an increase in the annual revenue for FY19 as against for FY18, so will there be a positive trend followed for the next year as well?

Soda ash as a product has different dynamics, its demand and supply is fairly balanced globally. India is a net importer of soda ash for almost one-fourth of its demand and has witnessed a healthy demand growth in the last few years. We have completed two brownfield expansions since March ’16, taking our capacity to 11 lakh MT from 8.5 lakh MT. This has resulted in topline as well as operational growth. In the next two years, we will increase our production by 50000 tonnes per annum. These brownfield expansions have acted like a catalyst due to same location synergies and saving in overheads.

We are also deliberating on the greenfield project and the ground work for the same has already begun, but will have to factor in industry dynamics before the final go ahead on this.

How has your experience been as a CFO? Can you tell us about a challenge which you met successfully?

Like I said initially, my experience as a CFO has been completely invigorating and continues to be full of new experiences and learning every day. The constantly changing economic as well technological scenario ensures that there is not a single dull day in my professional life.

As an organisation, one of the challenges we faced was during the global financial crisis/meltdown in 2008. GHCL faced turbulent times but, through very efficient financial and operational management, we were able to successfully navigate the company through and not only consolidate our operations but we ensured that we kept our growth momentum going. Today, as I look back, I can proudly say that team GHCL truly proved its mettle.