Thursday, November 3, 2016

Tata... Cyrus

As soon as the news, of the unceremonious ouster of Cyrus Mistry, filtered in. Apologists for the group rallied on TV channels, extolling virtues of the legendary Tata (and reminding us that he can do no wrong). I has questioned the manner in which the drama was played out, almost like that of a place coup. I also questioned that lack of information offered to investors, especially for group companies in the listed space.

The sheen of Corporate Governance that the Group once enjoyed, is wearing off. The underlying message that seems o be given is, a CEO cannot survive unless he/she pays obeisance to the old guard.

There has been value destruction and clarity has still not emerged. Both sides continue to wash dirty linen in public. Brand Tata has taken a beating. The nervousness of investors apparent in the below table:

Name 24-Oct 25-Oct 26-Oct 4-Nov
Tata Metaliks 422 405.5 385.25 350
Tata Chem 577 557 549.5 508
Tata Comm 669 654 636 611
Tata Steel 426 415 398 399
Tata coffee 134 131 130 121
Tata Power 83.6 82.35 80.65 75.9
Tata Global 153.85 149.5 145 128
Tata Sponge 637 620 614 566
Titan 377 368 374 369
Tata Elxsi 1333 1311 1272 1243
Timken 600 592 588 566
TCS 2427 2398 2396 2305
Rallis 236 232 225 212
Tata Motor 559 554 529 508
Tata Motor DVR 363 360 345 327
TTML 7.5 7.76 7.61 6.67
Voltas 393 396 385 362
(4th Nov rates at 1130 hrs)