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Noel Tata, half-brother of the late Ratan Tata, has strengthened his role within Tata Sons Ltd, the main holding company of $150 billion Tata Group, following shareholder approval of his appointment as director at the company’s Annual General Meeting held on Thursday.
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Noel Tata became Chairman of Tata Trusts in October 2024. He was nominated to the Tata Sons board by the Trusts and appointed as an additional director last year after the passing of Ratan Tata.
Along with Noel Tata, shareholders also approved the reappointment of Venu Srinivasan and Saurabh Agrawal. They also appointed Anita Marangoly George as an independent director. George is the co-founder and CEO of Prosperete, a growth fund focused on emerging markets. She is also a former senior official at the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Noel Tata is the only board member who holds shares in the company, owning 4,058 shares of Tata Sons.
Tata Trusts, which owns 66 per cent of Tata Sons, had earlier reaffirmed its position that the company should remain privately held. It’s against the listing of Tata Sons though the Reserve Bank of India’s regulations mandate listing of upper-layer non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) on the stock exchanges.
The AGM took place amid ongoing discussions with the Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) Group, which owns 18.4 per cent of Tata Sons, regarding a possible exit from the company. However, no agreement has been reached so far.
The Tata Group is on track to list Tata Capital Ltd by September. The proposed IPO is expected to raise around Rs 17,000 crore.
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With Ajay Piramal and Ralf Speth retiring from the board, two new directors are expected to be appointed. Tata Sons declined to comment on the AGM details.
Shareholders also approved a dividend of Rs 64,900 per ordinary share, a sharp increase from Rs 35,000 last year. The total dividend payout amounts to Rs 2,622.91 crore. Out of this, Rs 1,731 crore will go to Tata Trusts to support its philanthropic initiatives.
This marks the second consecutive year that Tata Sons has nearly doubled its dividend. In the previous financial year (FY23), the dividend stood at Rs 17,500 per share. The Shapoorji Pallonji Group, with its 18 per cent stake, will also benefit significantly from the increased payout.
For the financial year 2024–25, Tata Sons reported revenue of Rs 38,834.58 crore, a decline from Rs 43,893 crore the previous year. Last year’s revenue included a one-time gain of Rs 9,375.66 crore from the sale of investments. Profit after tax dropped to Rs 26,231.74 crore from Rs 34,653.98 crore a year ago.
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Despite the decline in profit, Tata Sons repaid all its outstanding borrowings during the year. The company ended the financial year with net cash of Rs 7,117.43 crore, up from Rs 2,679.19 crore a year earlier.
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