While the economic recovery post the disruption from the pandemic is picking up pace, the past couple of years have not been easy for corporate India. In a not-so-friendly macroeconomic environment, companies have had to cope with heightened competition and high inflation. Finance teams at companies had to adjust to the elevated inflation and rising interest rates, and managing working capital was a challenge as was procuring raw materials at the right time and price.
In all this, many of the country’s chief financial officers proved equal to the task, with some of them turning in outstanding performances. The return ratios for several companies have been truly spectacular.
Picking the winners in such turbulent times can never be easy. So was the case for the five-member FE CFO Awards jury, chaired by Keki Mistry, vice chairman and MD, HDFC. The other jury members were Pradip Shah, chairman, IndAsia Fund Advisors; Amit Chandra, chairman, Bain Capital; Vishakha Mulye, Chief Executive Officer, Aditya Birla Capital; and Rajeev Gupta, MD, Arpwood.
Mistry noted that given the challenging circumstances, many CFOs had indeed done well. “We have gone through some difficult times and all the more credit to the CFOs for having managed the finances so well,” Mistry said. Shah observed that while there were many contenders for the shortlist, the winners had excelled at their jobs. “Some of the names that we have chosen have truly done a great job,” Shah said. All members agreed it was important to highlight the work that CFOs were doing, quietly and behind the scenes.
The data crunching was done by Deloitte, which came up with a shortlist of candidates based on three years of net profits, profit margins and some other metrics including return on capital employed (RoCE) and the share of other income.
With the financials as a starting point, the jury went into great depth analysing the performances vis-à-vis the events within the company and the sector, including regulatory changes. Of course CFOs who managed the borrowings and interest rate bill well were appreciated, but those who saw their companies through a mergers & acquisition transaction or a divestment won additional points. Fundraises at good valuations in difficult market conditions also got CFOs some extra points.
Good credit ratings as also a consistent stock market performance were among the parameters considered. Although it might appear simple, comparison with peers can be complicated and this is where the knowledge and perspective of the jury members came in handy. Given their vast experience, each of the members brought to the table his or her insights and was able to assess performances of businesses across sectors. A top-class performance, executed with minimum fuss.