DIRECTORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS, Your Directors have pleasure in presenting the 33rd Annual Report of your Company together with the Audited Statements of Accounts for the year ended March 31, 2015. OVERVIEW OF ECONOMY Indian economy has weathered many challenges successfully in recent times and is currently placed on a cyclical upturn, on the back of strong policies and a whiff of new optimism. In the recent past, the economy faced testing times with issues like lower growth, high levels of inflation and widening current account deficit; escalated by an unsupportive external environment. Growth is back, with its desirable concomitants of mild inflation and manageable current account balance with stable rupee and rising foreign exchange reserves, signaling improvements in macro-economic stability. The growth rate of the economy, measured by the growth in GDP at constant (2011-12) market prices, improved from 5.1 per cent in 2012-13 to 6.9 per cent in 2013-14 and is projected to clock 7.4 per cent in 2014-15, according to the Advance Estimates released by the Central Statistics Office. India is one of the very few countries for which IMF and World Bank have raised their growth assessment. The ongoing revival is remarkable against the fact that it happened despite a highly tentative global economic conditions and a below-par domestic agricultural season. The year 2014-15 has witnessed key policy reforms, aimed at aiding growth revival and surmounting the structural constraints in the economy. The policy action has combined the needs of short term economic management with focus on taming inflation and external sector imbalances with a medium to long-term vision for transformation and development, manifested in significant reforms aimed at rationalizing administered pricing policies in petroleum and natural gas, stirring infrastructure development and de-bottlenecking the economy with initiatives to unshackle land acquisition for development (along with rehabilitation requirements therein) and to ensure adequate availability of key inputs like coal and power. The growth agenda of the Government has been tethered to the revival of manufacturing, unleashed in the "Make in India", initiative, accompanied by liberalization of foreign direct investment, a large array of investment facilitation measures and steps to improve saving. OVERALL PERFORMANCE & OUTLOOK The performance of the Company during the year was almost in line in comparison to previous financial year. Revenue has been grown marginally but Gross Profit has been reduced marginally Gross Revenue from Operations remained at Rs. 4435.02 Lac in comparison to last years' figure of Rs. 4048.62 Lac. In term of Net Profit, the same was of Rs. 62.37 Lac in comparison to last years' net Profit of Rs. 65.40 Lac. In term of segment results, the Company has earned profit of Rs. 169.04 Lac from its treasury operations, but has suffered loss of Rs. 36.81 Lac from textile business, loss of Rs. 4.25 Lac from Share speculative transactions and loss of Rs. 37.39 Lac from other activities. The outlook for the current year seems to be challenging mainly due to steep competition, increase in price of trading material and sluggish consumer demand due to higher rate of inflation etc. However, your Company believes to overcome these challenges and will register growth. DIVIDEND AND RESERVES To conserve resources for future and to meet its business requirements, Directors do not recommends any Dividend for the year under review. During the year under review, no amount was transferred to General Reserve. SHARE CAPITAL The paid up Equity Share Capital as on March 31, 2015 was Rs. 3.624 Crore. During the year under review, the Company has not issued shares with differential voting rights nor granted stock options nor sweat equity. As on March 31, 2015, none of the Directors and/or Key Managerial Person of the Company hold instruments convertible in to Equity Shares of the Company. Further, Mr. Deepak S. Bansal, Managing Director of the Company is holding 25000 Equity Shares or 0.07% of Paid-up Capital in his name. FINANCE AND ACCOUNTS Your Company prepares its financial statements in compliance with the requirements the Companies Act, 2013 and the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in India. The financial statements have been prepared on historical cost basis. The estimates and judgments relating to the financial statements are made on a prudent basis, so as to reflect in a true and fair manner, the form and substance of transactions and reasonably present the Company's state of affairs, profits/(loss) and cash flows for the year ended 31st March 2015. The Company continues to focus on judicious management of its working capital. Receivables, inventories and other working capital parameters were kept under strict check through continuous monitoring. There is no audit qualification in the standalone financial statements by the statutory auditors for the year under review. PARTICULARS OF LOANS, GUARANTEES OR INVESTMENTS Details of Loans, Guarantees and Investments, if any, covered under the provisions of Section 186 of the Companies Act, 2013 are given in the notes to the Financial Statements. SUBSIDIARY COMPANY The Company does not have any material subsidiary whose net worth exceeds 20% of the consolidated net worth of the holding company in the immediately preceding accounting year or has generated 20% of the consolidated income of the Company during the previous financial year. Accordingly, a policy on material subsidiaries has not been formulated. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS All transactions entered into with Related Parties as defined under the Companies Act, 2013 and Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement during the financial year were in the ordinary course of business and on an arm's length pricing basis and do not attract the provisions of Section 188 of the Companies Act, 2013 thus disclosure in form AOC-2 is not required. There were no materially significant transactions with related parties during the financial year which were in conflict with the interest of the Company. Suitable disclosure as required by the Accounting Standards (AS18) has been made in the notes to the Financial Statements. The policy on Related Party Transactions as approved by the Board is uploaded on the Company's website. MANAGEMENT DISCUSSION & ANALYSIS As required by Clause 49 of Listing Agreement, the Management Discussion and Analysis is annexed and forms part of the Directors' Report. MANAGEMENT There was no change in Management of the Company during the year under review. DIRECTORS Durint the year Mr. Alok Kr. Behera, Managing Director has resigned from the Board w.e.f. 10th December 2014 due to his personal commitments and in his place Mr. Deepak S. Bansal, Executive Director has been appointed as Managing Director. Your Directors wish to place on record his appreciation for the guidance and inputs provided by all above Directors during their tenure as Directors of your Company.. Further, none of the Directors of the Company are disqualified under sub-section (2) of Section 164 of the Companies Act, 2013. INDEPENDENT DIRECTORS As per provisions of Section 149 of the 2013 Act, independent directors shall hold office for a term up to five consecutive years on the board of a company, but shall be eligible for re-appointment for another term up to five years on passing of a special resolution by the company and disclosure of such appointment in Board's Report. Further Section 152 of the Act provides that the Independent Directors shall not be liable to retire by rotation in the Annual General Meeting ('AGM') of the Company. As per Revised Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement (applicable from October 1, 2014), any person who has already served as Independent Director for five years or more in a company as on October 1, 2014 shall be eligible for appointment, on completion of the present term, for one more term of up to 5 (five) years only. SIGNIFICANT AND MATERIAL ORDERS PASSED BY THE REGULATORS, TRIBUNALS OR COURTS There are no significant and material orders passed by the Regulators/Courts that would impact the going concern status of the Company and its future operations. MATERIAL CHANGES AND COMMITMENTS AFFECTING FINANCIAL POSITION BETWEEN THE END OF THE FINANCIAL YEAR AND DATE OF REPORT There have been no material changes and commitments affecting the financial position of the Companybetween the end of Financial Year and date of the report. DIRECTORS RESPONSIBILITY STATEMENT Pursuant to the provisions of Section 134(5) of the Companies Act, 2013 the Board of Directors confirms that: 1. In the preparation of the annual accounts, for the year ended 31st March 2015, all the applicable accounting standards specified under Section 133 of the Act, read with Rule 7 of the Companies (Accounts) Rules, 2014 have been followed; 2. The Directors had adopted such accounting policies and applied them consistently and made judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent so as to give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Company at the end of the financial year and of the profit of the Company for that period; 3. The Directors had taken proper and sufficient care for the maintenance of adequate accounting records in accordance with the provisions of this Act for safeguarding the assets of the Company and for preventing and detecting fraud and other irregularities; and 4. The Directors had prepared the annual accounts on a going concern basis. 5. Proper internal financial controls were in place and that the financial controls were adequate and were operating effectively; and 6. Systems to ensure compliance with the provisions of all applicable laws were in place and were adequate and operating effectively. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Your Company believes that in addition to progressive thought, it is imperative to invest in information and technology to ascertain future exposure and prepare for challenges. In its endeavor to obtain and deliver the best, your Company has entered into alliances/tie-ups with an IT solution Company to harness and tap the latest and the best of technology in the world and deploy/absorb technology wherever feasible, relevant and appropriate. BUSINESS RISK MANAGEMENT Pursuant to the requirement of Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement, the Company has constituted a Business Risk Management Committee. The details of Committee and its terms of reference are set out in the Corporate Governance Report forming part of the Board's Report. The Company has a robust Business Risk Management (BRM) framework to identify, evaluate business risks and opportunities. This framework seeks to create transparency, minimize adverse impact on the business objectives and enhance the Company's competitive advantage. The business risk framework defines the risk management approach across the enterprise at various levels including documentation and reporting. The framework has different risk models which help in identifying risks trend, exposure and potential impact analysis at a Company level as also separately for business segments viz. Finance and Capital Market activities. INTERNAL CONTROL SYSTEMS AND THEIR ADEQUACY The Company has an Internal Control System, commensurate with the size, scale and complexity of its operations. The scope and authority of the Internal Audit (IA) function is defined in the Internal Audit Charter. To maintain its objectivity and independence, the Internal Audit function reports to the Chairman of the Audit Committee of the Board The Internal Audit Department monitors and evaluates the efficiency and adequacy of internal control system in the Company, its compliance with operating systems, accounting procedures and policies. Based on the report of internal audit function, process owners undertake corrective action in their respective areas and thereby strengthen the controls. Significant audit observations and corrective actions thereon are presented to the Audit Committee of the Board. VIGIL MECHANISM / WHISTLE BLOWER POLICY As required under Rule 7 of The Companies (Meetings of Board and its Powers) Rules 2014, the Company has a vigil mechanism named Fraud Risk Management Policy (FRM) to deal with instance of fraud and mismanagement, if any. The detail of the FRM Policy is explained in the Corporate Governance Report. RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT The Company believes that technological obsolescence is a reality. Only progressive research and development will help us to measure up to future challenges and opportunities. We invest in and encourage continuous innovation. During the year under review, expenditure on research and development is not significant in relation to the nature size of operations of your Company. AUDITORS Statutory Auditors The Auditors M/s Maheshwari and Co. (FRN 105834W), Chartered Accountants, Mumbai who are Statutory Auditors of the Company and holds the office until the conclusion of ensuing Annual General Meeting and are recommended for re-appointment to audit the accounts of the Company from the conclusion of the 39th Annual General Meeting up to the conclusion of the 43rd consecutive Annual General Meeting (subject to ratification by the members at every subsequent AGM). As required under the provisions of Section 139 & 142 of the Companies Act, 2013 the Company has obtained written confirmation from M/s. Maheshwari and Co., Chartered Accountants, Mumbai; that their appointment, if made, would be in conformity with the limits specified in the said Section. Secretarial Auditors Pursuant to the provisions of Section 204 of the Companies Act, 2013 and The Companies (Appointment and Remuneration of Managerial Personnel) Rules, 2014, the Company has appointed M/s G. S. Bhide & Associates, a firm of Company Secretaries in Practice to undertake the Secretarial Audit of the Company. The Report of the Secretarial Audit Report is annexed elsewhere in this Annual Report. EXTRACT OF ANNUAL RETURN The details forming part of the extract of the Annual Return in form MGT 9, as required under section 92 of the Companies Act, 2013 is annexed elsewhere in this Annual Report. PARTICULARS OF EMPLOYEES The information required pursuant to Section 197 read with Rule, 5 of The Companies (Appointment and Remuneration of Managerial Personnel) Rules, 2014 in respect of employees of the Company, will be provided upon request. In terms of Section 136 of the Act, the Report and Accounts are being sent to the Members and others entitled thereto, excluding the information on employees' particulars which is available for inspection by the Members at the Registered Office of the Company during business hours on working days of the Company up to the date of the ensuing Annual General Meeting. If any Member is interested in obtaining a copy thereof, such Member may write to the Company Secretary in this regard. PARTICULARS UNDER SECTION 134 (3) (m) OF THE COMPANIES ACT, 2013 Since the Company is into the Business of Financing and Investing activities in Shares and Securities; the information regarding conservation of energy, Technology Absorption, Adoption and innovation, under section 134(3)(m) of the Companies Act, 2013 read with Rule, 8 of The Companies (Accounts) Rules, 2014, is reported to be NIL. FOREIGN EXCHANGE EARNINGS AND OUTGO The Company has not earned or used foreign exchange earnings/outgoings during the year under review. PUBLIC DEPOSITS During the year under review, your Company has not accepted any deposit from the public falling within the ambit of Section 73 of the Companies Act, 2013 and The Companies (Acceptance of Deposits) Rules, 2014. REPORT ON CORPORATE GOVERNANCE The Company conforms to the norms of Corporate Governance as envisaged in the Companies Act, 2013 and the Listing Agreement with the Bombay Stock Exchange Limited. Pursuant to Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement, a Report on the Corporate Governance and the Auditors Certificate on Corporate Governance are annexed to this report. APPRECIATION Your Directors wish to place on record their appreciation towards the contribution of all the employees of the Company and their gratitude to the Company's valued customers, bankers, vendors and members for their continued support and confidence in the Company. By order of the Board For Arihant Multi Commercial Limited Deepak S. Bansal (DIN : 03578201) Managing Director Place : Mumbai, date : May 28, 2015 Registered Office : F/3, C-Wing, 1st Floor, Shah Arcade 1, Rani Sati Marg, Malad (E), Mumbai-400 097 |