Covid-19 crisis has given us an opportunity to reboot our thinking: Anand Mahindra

The Covid-19 crisis has given us an opportunity to reboot our thinking, reinvent our approach and recommit ourselves to our financial goals, said Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group, who was speaking at Mahindra & Mahindra’s 74th annual general meeting held virtually on Friday.

“Let me stress that growth continues to be our goal. If anything, our focus on growth is sharper than before. We have already started identifying and taking appropriate action on businesses that have not lived up to their business plans,” said Mahindra.

“We will commit ourselves to ambitious growth by continuing to invest in our successful businesses and prepare for the future by nurturing and investing in businesses that have a potential of over a billion dollar market cap,” he added.

“The steady rise in your company’s share price since its April lows might be an indication that we are on the right track. And some analysts have expressed the view that the M&M share today is significantly undervalued - just as it was in 2002. I am personally quite optimistic that history will repeat itself,” said Mahindra.

In 2002, the share price of M&M had come down to ₹56 and the company was removed from the NIFTY Index. “There were many who were sceptical about our survival,” he recalled. The company had then proceeded to hold an emergency meeting of its top 150 managers of the Group worldwide. “That was a seminal conference – we called it the Bluechip Conference – where we unflinchingly analysed our businesses and strategy,” he said. It also set financial goals to be achieved in three years.

“We actually achieved all our goals in one year. The focus paid off. In fact, between the first Blue chip Conference and the next one at the same time in 2003, we doubled our profits. That upward trend continued in all the years that we held the Bluechip Conference and well beyond that. The reason I am sharing the story of Bluechip with you, is to underline that we have proved that we have the ability to turn the worst of times into the best of times. And it is our happy experience that the worst of times is often the trigger that propels us towards the best of times,” he said.

“Today our factories are humming again, we have reinvented our business models, we have moved sales online. We are all set to rise,” he further stated.

I think life has led us full circle, he said. “In 2002, when we seemed to be facing the worst of times, we committed to a focus on financial returns – and succeeded beyond anyone’s expectations. In 2020, tough times are back again and we are rededicating ourselves to those financial goals and growth aspirations with a laser sharp focus on financial returns. I firmly believe that the worst will soon be behind us and the best of times are well within reach,” said Mahindra.

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