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Coromandel
Fertilisers Limited
Renamed As
Coromandel International Limited
Completes re-branding - Unveils
New Brand Identity to reflect the expanded business focus
Hyderabad Sep 25th, 2009: Coromandel
International Limited (formerly Coromandel Fertilisers Limited), a
flagship company of the Murugappa Group and one of India’s leading
fertiliser company, today announced its plans to grow and transform
the business into a diversified agri-solution and rural marketing
company with global ambitions. Coromandel International Limited also
unveiled its new corporate brand identity comprising a new logo,
brand vision and values reflecting the Company’s changed persona.
The Company has embarked on a re-branding exercise signaling change
and re-energising the organisation, its employees, partners,
customers and shareholders. The new brand idea is “Maximise”
which is a step to convey Coromandel’s progressive spirit which
depicts its global scale of operations, best internal resource,
people, technology and world class processes.
The brand focus will be on “Maximising”
productivity, progress, protection and prosperity for the
stakeholders of Coromandel. It also gives a new dimension about
maximising internal progress for the next level of performance,
employee engagement and governance. The brand essence and values
will be implemented in product development, human resources,
finance, service and innovation to take Coromandel to new heights.
Ray+Keshavan - The Brand Union, India’s leading brand strategy and
design consulting firm has developed the corporate brand strategy
and identity for the Company.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. A.
Vellayan, Chairman of Coromandel International Limited said, “Over
the last few decades, we have changed the face of our business. As
we get ready to address wider opportunities to create wealth for our
shareholders, we have evolved new ways of thinking and a new
direction. Our new identity reflects the shift in our corporate
identity from a large fertiliser player to a rural marketing and
agri-solutions provider. The new name of the Company reflects and
retains the same trust that it has been commanding from the time of
its inception and now stands enhanced by the promise of newer
opportunities.”
Mr. V. Ravichandran, MD, Coromandel
International Limited added, “The new business environment
presents new opportunities. We have looked at each business
individually and adopted a strategy that best suits them
respectively. Our efforts over the last several years have brought
us to a stage where we are ready to really maximise the potential
within our organisation. We wanted to convey to the world this new
thinking and direction at Coromandel, hence the re-branding. The new
brand reflects the vibrant spirit of the organisation, its energy,
vitality and positivity”
Coromandel has been recording strong
profitability over the years. The Company posted strong financials
last year, a year which was marked by violent fluctuations in input
costs. However, our well crafted strategy of raw material linkages
has paid off resulting in efficient sourcing of raw materials and
improved profitability.
With the new identity, the Company
has embarked on an ambitious journey of aggressive growth and
setting up global footprints. The Company has recently set up a
separate division “Specialty Nutrients Division” (SND). This
division manufactures and markets Specialty Nutrients like Zinc,
Boron, Sulphur, Water Soluble Fertilisers and Organic Composts and
intends to grow aggressively in the coming years. As a part of the
Strategic growth plan, Coromandel plans to capture value addition
and provide a direction for sustained growth.
The Company has also accelerated its
retail operations plans by expanding its retail store chain Mana
Gromor. Coromandel set up over 400 “Mana Gromor” retail stores
across the mandal headquarters of Andhra Pradesh which caters to the
needs of the farming community through farm inputs and farm
productivity improvement services. A few Mana Gromor outlets also
provide lifestyle products to meet the urban aspirations of the
rural population. With the rural economy promising robust growth,
Coromandel is expected to create substantial value enhancement
through its retail operations. In the coming days this will be a new
growth engine for Coromandel and will give another platform to serve
its customers.
Coromandel will also focus on
strengthening its global operations, its tie-ups and also foster
technical and R&D initiatives. The Company, along with its
Mauritius based wholly owned subsidiary, increased its equity stake
in Foskor Limited, South Africa a leading supplier of phosphoric
acid which is a key intermediate for the manufacture of fertilisers.
The Company has a Technical Services Agreement with Foskor and is
actively managing the process plants enabling the Company an assured
supply of this key raw material. Coromandel, jointly with Groupe
Chimique Tunisien has invested in a joint venture company called
TIFERT to setup a Phosphoric Acid plant in Tunisia which will ensure
uninterrupted supply of phosphoric acid.
The Pesticides division also
performed well with turnover and EBIDTA growth of 23% and 25%
respectively. In order to tap the huge opportunity in agro-chemicals
available in the Latin American market, Coromandel has opened a
wholly owned subsidiary in Brazil that will engage in the sale of
its own manufactured products as well as traded products. The
overall focus of the Company is to enhance its scale of operations
worldwide and position itself as a major player in the Indian agro
business industry.
About the New Logo
The idea behind the new logo is to
create a differentiator by focusing on productivity to positivity,
embracing life in the larger, bigger and broader sense – thereby
suggesting a sincere attempt in making a difference to the lives of
the stakeholders every single day of the year.
The organic forms in motion are
reminiscent of the Sun as well as crops swaying in the wind - and
connotes an organisation that is agile, energetic and innovative.
The clean, clear, bold upright type forms are representative of the
organisation’s scale and stature, its solidity as well as its
ability to engage directly with the multiple stakeholders. At a
subliminal level the organic forms mirror the peacock feathers
fanning outwards – and thereby connects the logo to the Murugappa
group identity. The bright colours exude positivity and optimism and
are symbolic of gold - thereby suggestive of an organisation that is
as trusted and valued as the precious metal.
About Coromandel International Limited
Coromandel, a leading manufacturer
of a wide range of fertilisers and pesticides (technical and
formulations), is a part of the Rs 15,907 crore Murugappa Group. The
Company was incorporated in 1961, by the synergistic efforts of two
major companies of the US - Chevron Chemical Company and
International Minerals and Chemicals Corporation - and EID Parry
Ltd, a leading business house in India associated with agriculture.
Coromandel markets around 2.9 million tonnes of phosphatic
fertilisers, making it the leader in its addressable markets and the
second-largest producer of phosphatic fertilisers in India.
Coromandel is known in the global
agro-chemical market as the second-largest manufacturer of Malathion
and only the second manufacturer of Phenthoate. Coromandel's
pesticide business produces over 35 types of insecticides,
fungicides and herbicides that are marketed across the country and
exported to many countries in South America, Western Africa, Middle
East and South East Asia.
About Murugappa Group
Headquartered in Chennai, the Rs.
15,907 crore (USD 3.14 billion) Murugappa Group is one of India’s
leading business conglomerates. Market leaders in diverse areas of
business including Engineering, Abrasives, Finance, General
Insurance, Cycles, Sugar, Farm Inputs, Fertilisers, Plantations,
Bio-products and Nutraceuticals, its 29 companies have manufacturing
facilities spread across 13 states in India. The organisation
fosters an environment of professionalism and has a workforce of
over 32,000 employees. The Group has forged strong joint venture
alliances with leading international companies like DBS Bank, Mitsui
Sumitomo, Cargill and Groupe Chimique Tunisien and has consolidated
its status as one of the fastest growing diversified business houses
in India.
For further information, please
contact:
Chandrika Raman
Asst. General Manager
Group Corporate Communications- Murugappa Group
Tel: 2530 6535/ 98400 71172
chandrikaR@corp.murugappa.com
Ms. Suchana Pattnaik /Ms. Richa Chauhan
Hanmer MS&L Communications Pvt Ltd.
Mobile: 98493 00178 / 99596 42999
suchana@hanmermsl.com
, richachauhan@hanmermsl.com
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