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News Heading : Mr. T.V. Ramanathan India's most valuable CEO

T.V Ramanathan, the 63-year-old managing director and CEO of Kolkata-based battery maker Exide Industries, took over the reins from hid predecessors S.B Ganguly in 2000. Ganguly, currently the Chairman Emeritus of Exide, says, “I am sure Ramanathan will do much better than me. He will achieve what I could not”. Ramanathan’s formula was success consists of focusing on three Ps – people, products and projects. A finance man armed with degrees in chartered accountancy and company secretary-ship, he feels action speaks louder than words. After a five-year stint at the World Bank (1985-90), Exide was his second halt in India after the UB Group. He joined the company as executive vice-president for finance in 1997. Barely a year later, he got promoted as finance director. “When I joined in 1997, I realized the strength of Exide as a sleeping giant”, he says. His first move was to cut capital usage and make the sales team more accountable. A reflex action of a finance man obsessed with cost-cutting – that is how the move was received. In fact, Exide’s operating profit had declined to Rs 140.81 crore in 2000-01 from Rs 148.37 crore in 1999-2000, and net profit Rs 41.55 crore (from Rs 48.89 crore). The turnover however, went up marginally to Rs 945.38 crore from 939.69 crore during the same period. But soon the numbers started to tell of his abilities Exide expanded its presence by moving closer to growing markets such as Pune and Kochi, a trend following by its competitors such as Amara Raja. Exide has since set up large warehouses for easy access to distributors in tier II and III cities. Its net profit jumped 61 percent to Rs 250 crore and the turnover was up 51 percent to Rs 3,606 crore in 2007-08. Return on capital employed (ROCE) and return on net worth (RONW) went up by 35 percent and 40 percent respectively. “If we can’t give three-and-a-halftimes more than the State Bank of India to shareholders, then we have no right to take their money.” Ramanathan says. His focus on the inverter market has paid off. But now with improving power availability, he expects this market to slowdown, and has set his sights on defense. Exide supplies batteries worth Rs 45 crore to submarines globally. Ramanathan also anticipated a slowdown in OEM (original equipment manufacturer) sales. Sriman Polamraju, analyst Tirumala Securities, says, “They can tide over this with the strong demand for replacement batteries”. R&D is another area close to his heart. Exide is present in power electronics and renewable energy through Caldyne Automatic. In November 2007, it acquired Pune-based Tandon Metals and Bangalore-based Leadage Alloys India to reduce its dependence on imported lead and lead alloys. The move has boosted Exide’s financial results immediately. The icing on the cake is Ramanathan’s happy tea. “A motivated employee makes a customer happy. The majority of our people are in middle level, hence we take special acre of them”, he says.

• Exide maintains steady growth

• Mr. T.V. Ramanathan India's most valuable CEO

• EXIDE POSTS 9% RISE IN Q4 NET