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Vinita Bali is leaving Britannia Industries, a company she headed for nine years, by this month-end. She will be succeeded by executive director Varun Berry according to a succession plan announced by the Nusli Wadia-owned company last year. Bali, 58, had joined Britannia in January 2005 after a stint with beverages major Coca Cola in the US at a turbulent time when there was no designated MD or chief executive officer (CEO), two years after Sunil Alagh left as MD and CEO after a dispute with the Wadias, Britannia’s promoters.
According to a Britannia statement issued after a board meeting on Tuesday, Bali will remain on the boards of various Wadia group companies, including Bombay Dyeing, Bombay Burmah and GoAir. She will also continue to be associated with the Britannia Nutrition Foundation.
“It has been a great stint with Britannia and after retirement, I do not intend to do in the next 20 years what I did in the last 20 years,” Bali told this newspaper. Bali said she will spend her time by working with United Nations nutrition programme, serving on the global board of Syngenta and working with Cornell University.
Bali’s successor, Varun Berry joined Britannia in January 2013 from Pepsico, as Chief Operating Officer and was made Executive Director in November 2013. Berry was handling domestic operations since June 2013 and made several key changes in the top team of Britannia.
Bali’s tenure saw the setting up of several greenfield units and the induction of new talent into the Company. During her stint, Britannia’s net profit jumped from Rs 105 crore in FY 07 to Rs 259.5 crore in FY 13. During the same period, top line increased from Rs 1,514 crore to Rs 6136 crore.
At the peak of her career, Bali was ranked 18th among the world’s 50 top business women by The Financial Times in 2011 and received the Forbes Leadership Award in the same year. She also received the Asian Centre for corporate governance and sustainability best woman director award in 2010.
In a recent meeting with analysts, Britannia top management indicated that the long-term growth story remains intact though near-term challenges on demand remain. However, weak macro continues to weigh on biscuit industry growth rates (which have become nearly a third of Q1 FY13 levels.
The rise of Berry during last year had led to heightened rumours about Bali’s exit. Her recent actions over the past few months had clearly indicated that the exit has been planned. She offloaded 75,000 shares in Britannia and the company also announced it had completed a settlement of 100,000 shares in stock options to its MD. Bali now has 400,000 shares in Britannia, worth Rs 36 crore.
In about a year after Bali took the reins at Britannia, the company’s share price broke out of the Rs 100-200 range it had been trading in since 2000. However, the acceleration in share price gained momentum after Berry took charge.
With him at the top of domestic operations, shares of Britannia almost doubled, since his entry in the company on January 7 last year.
After joining Britannia, Berry was designated vice-president and chief operating officer effective February 1. Appointing Berry as an additional director of the company in November marked his third promotion in 11 months in the company after a May 28 decision to let him head Indian operations that account for about 95 per cent of the company’s sales. Bali was left with Britannia’s much smaller international operations.
It is further understood that the promoter - Nusli Wadia -- who had taken active review of the operations of Britannia during last year after Berry came on board has now taken his foot off the pedal to an extent, given the strong growth which Berry has been delivering over the past few quarters.
Britannia's stock dropped half a percent to close at Rs 841.15 per share on the NSE on Tuesday.
