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Dear friends, colleagues and valued customers,
Last year was a good year for Crown Paints. As a company, we managed to cement
our grip in the industry through an ambitious expansion plan targeting the larger
East Africa region. The expansion strategy saw Crown Paints invest in Tanzania and
Rwanda.
We also managed to increase the number of our showrooms from one in 2013
to seven by 2014. These paint showrooms are critical to our business since they
are enablers in imparting knowledge to the consumers, hence bridging the paint
literacy gap.
As a company, we shall continue to partner with the like-minded institutions
globally and locally. One of the most notable partnerships last year was with Pidilite
Industries.
Dear readers, this year, I will be celebrating 10 years since I joined Crown Paints. It
has been a good journey, decorated with myriads of milestones. In a period of 10
years, Crown Paints’ profitability has increased from Sh33million to Sh330million,
while turnover has grown from Sh2billion to Sh13billion. Today, we are exporting
300,000 liters of paint per month to Congo, Burundi, Somali and South Sudan.
Other milestones include: a robust online transaction system, COYA awards, ISO
& OHAS recognition, over 50 product launches and effective supply management
chain.
Going forward, we intend to triple our turnover in the next 10 years, consolidate our
regional presenceand increaseourmarket share.We shall strive toenhanceproduct
knowledge to users and customers as well as nurture long term relationships with
our existing customers.
We intend to improve our focus on automotive paints, fashion paints, decorative
paints and exterior finishes. As a company, our focus will always be to transform
the lives of painters, the underprivileged and to support women entrepreneurship.
However, we are still facing the challenges of counterfeits, high inflation, high
interest rates, political upheaval, slow economic growth and shortage of technical
staff. Although these challenges might have an effect on our business, we are
determined to diffuse possible solutions to ensure we achieve our vision.
RAKESH RAO
MESSAGE FROM THE
GROUP CEO