Tata Sons profit more than doubled in fiscal 2021 on the back of gains made from participating in the share buyback programme of TCS. Profit zoomed 142% to £651.2 million from £268 million in FY20. Revenue from operations - which mainly comprise dividend income, interest income and brand royalty fees - fell 62% to £946 million. Other income was higher at £1.01 billion as compared to £12.6 million in FY20. This, Tata Sons explained in its annual report, was because a substantial part of the other income was profit from buyback of shares by TCS.
Either gains made from participating in the TCS share repurchase scheme or its special dividend payout has been boosting the earnings of Tata Sons, which has 269 subsidiaries, in the last four fiscals. Debt and borrowings reduced slightly to £3 billion, according to the FY21 report. Total expenses decreased 22% to £398.1 million.
On a consolidated basis, the company’s profit increased 78% to £1.94 billion. Tata Sons has called for an annual general meeting mid-September to seek shareholders’ approval on the re-appointment of three directors. There is, however, no mention of chairman N Chandrasekaran’s re-appointment in the annual report. His term as a director of Tata Sons - he was appointed on October 25, 2016 - ends this October. His chairmanship tenure, however, ends in February.
The FY21 report said that the nomination and remuneration committee reviewed the performance of Tata Sons board as a whole, and its individual directors. It added that, in a separate meeting of independent directors, the performance of non-independent directors as well as the performance of the chairman was evaluated. The report didn’t elaborate further.
