Timely action of Rajeev Jhawar saves Usha Martin from a huge fall

Established in 1960, Usha Martin was one of the leading steel producers and wire rope manufacturers in the country for a long time. The company underwent the incorporation process in the year 1986 under the name Usha Beltron Ltd. Since its inception, the company had been seeing immense growth and was elegantly walking up the ladder for the past 50 years. Some of its manufacturing units are set up in Ranchi, Hoshiarpur, Dubai, Bangkok and UK. Rajeev Jhawar is the Managing Director of Usha Martin Limited and is the son of Brij Kishore Jhawar.

Rajeev Jhawar MD of Usha Martin Ltd

Despite hard work, it was also the joint effort of the Jhawar family that brought the company to the top. Basant Kumar Jhawar, his brother Brij Kishore Jhawar and his son Prasant Jhawar along with the company's MD and his Nephew Rajeev Jhawar, took the company to great heights. While the family jointly held 51% of the stake, the rest of the retailers held only 49% of the stake.

Usha Martin had a huge load of debt on its balance sheets. These debts were a result of the long-standing working capital borrowings along with other debts and credits put together. As of 2018, the company's debt stood at 4650 crores. The company's MD Rajeev Jhawar Usha Martin, along with other board members, worked hard towards bringing down the debt of the company. However, the creditors never came to a concise offer to offer a haircut, demanding the company to pay the entire amount. This ultimately forced the country's notable steel maker to go in for the sale of assets.

One of the biggest, out of NCLT insolvency requests, Rajeev Jhawar invited bids from various industry giants. The company was planning to sell its steel business in a bid to pay off its debts. Big bidders for the same included Vedanta, Tata Steel, JSW, etc. What seemed to be a notable step in the history of the company, came to an end when the Tatas were given the deal under a 5-year contract. Tata Steel through Tata Sponge, which is a subsidiary unit, was to take over the unit presiding in Jamshedpur for a cost of 4600 crores.

While the entire takeover was to be finished by the end of 2018, sparks developed between the Jhawar family members. Rajeev Jhawar worked hard on clearing the debts of the company, while Prasant Jhawar and his father started opposing the activities undertaken by Rajeev Jhawar. Despite the deal being on the right track, what was once the company's greatest strength, soon became the reason for its decline. News of differences among the key personnel of Usha Martin started making the news.

In December 2018, what seemed to be a family problem, soon became a sensational news headline. Brij Kishore Jhawar and his brother Basant Jhawar who were working day and night as the founding members of the company, reached the Enforcement Directorate to sort out their difference. Basant Kumar and his son Prashant Jhawar were against the sale of the wire and steel business and were also unhappy with the management of the MD. They blamed Rajeev's mismanagement for condition of the company's finances. But the truth was far apart from this. Selling the steel division of Usha Martin Limited to Tata Steel was the most reliable solution that Rajeev Jhawar could make. Clearing most of its debt through this deal, Usha Martin Limited was finally able to stand solid on the grounds in a long time.

This uproar of family feud soon came to an end when Basant Kumar Jhawar was forced to leave the company, as the majority of the stakeholders backed the Managing Director, Rajeev Jhawar. The voting during the EGM (Extraordinary General Meeting) favoured Basant's nephew, Rajeev Jhawar as he failed to garner the minimum 75% support required. The board appointed Bajpai in his place. There hasn't been much development on the issue since. However, the share market seems to be highly volatile as earlier this year, it saw a fall of more than 6%.

Usha Martin Limited

Usha Martin Limited never had any default. Usha Martin has been able to meet all its commitments to its lenders. There are no provisions that have been made by the lenders and they have been current on their repayments of both interest and principle. Their main lenders are SBI, ICICI, the axis along with a few others and they are very happy to see that the company has proactively taken this step and would be able to clear all its debt. Rajeev, Jhawar expects that going forward it would continue to add value to its shareholders.

As per the Managing Director Rajeev Jhawar, following the sale, Usha Martin will divert its major focus towards strengthening its business. The company will be working towards strengthening its rope business, as a result of which the company is hoping to secure a place among the top three wire rope players. Being global leaders in the wire rope business they have the opportunity to have good growth over the next 3,4 years. They also expect good growth both in terms of a top line and bottom line.

Rajeev Jhawar also points out that 60% of their revenues are going in terms of EBITDA. The steel cycle has improved and over the last 2 quarters, the company has had a turnaround. It has been able to improve its bottom line both in the steel and wire rope business. Rajeev, Jhawar thought that it would be a good opportunity to sell the steel business at these levels so that they can get a better valuation. The wire rope will have a very strong residual company with a very strong balance sheet with an annual profit between 250 to 300 crores on a consolidated basis.

This along with a better balance sheet, Usha Martin Limited have a solid rope business that can grow. Rajeev feels that this is a business that can grow Usha Martin has been a global leader. In wire group business, Usha Martin has the leadership position in the country and they are among the top 4 players in the world. In the past 3 or 4 years, the company could not invest in this business because of its over-leveraged position. By selling the steel plant, Rajeev Jhawar expects that they will be able to expand their wire rope and wire business as there would be very good cash flows generated.

Rajeev Jhawar wishes a growth of at least 15 to 20% per year. It took them a year to build up the capacities in these areas. Now he is sure, that it is continuing in an ongoing basis. They can expand and grow at this rate over the next few years. The current slowdown followed by the COVID-19 pandemic has surely affected the top line of Usha Martin. However, the company seems to be confident and optimistic about the days to come. Usha Martin, at large, will invest in the domestic market. It is also expecting a decent profitability growth in the following three years.