June 2013
4
I am delighted to once again write to you in this edition of
Brushstrokes, a magazine designed to brief our customers on
the latest news from Crown Paints.
First, let me thank all Kenyans who participated in the peace
campaign we initiated in the run-up to the last General
Elections. The campaign dubbed ‘Uniting Colours of Kenya’
was launched in Nairobi’s Kibera area. It attracted a lot of
interest from Kenyans from all walks of life who heeded our
call for peace. I also wish to salute all Kenyans for upholding
peace during and after the elections.
On behalf of Crown Paints Directors, Management, Staff and
Shareholders, I congratulate His Excellency President Uhuru
Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto on their election and
assure them of our company’s commitment to working with
the government to build our economy.
The last one year has been an exciting time for us as we
expanded our business and product range. We have seen our
premium category grow significantly and it now accounts for
70% of our total sales. This shows that the appetite for quality
paint in Kenya and the region has gone several notches higher.
In 2012, our turnover increased by 15% crossing the 4 billion
shilling mark. This was attributable to the rising demand for
new products. We managed to grow our sales by 10% despite
the high interest rates in the market that affected all sectors
including construction. Our impressive sales levels are the
result of many improvements we have made internally to our
processes as well as aggressive effort by our marketing team.
Profit before tax rose from Kshs 200.5 million to Kshs 224.1
million. As good as our overall trading performance has been,
we have continuously grappled with the challenge posed by
counterfeit products in the local market. The paint industry
is very competitive from a price perspective. We have
responded by incorporating security seals into our premium
products. These actions come at a cost but they ultimately
protect our customers from cheap fakes.
Message from the
Rakesh Rao
Crown Teflon-surface protector-based products remain our
flagship brand and we consider them the biggest breakthrough
to hit the Kenyan market since Permaplast exterior emulsion was
introduced by Crown in 1986. Call it brand leadership: we have
been transforming painting standards in Kenya. Teflon
®
surface
protector exemplifies this spirit. The unequivocal commitment
to quality saw us introduce two products in the automotive paint
segment that have since raised the consumer value bar. It’s
no wonder then that we have attained Superbrand status. The
pinnacle of our achievement has been innovation which has been
accepted across our customer spectrum, be they direct buyers or
dealers or key specifiers such as architects, quantity surveyors and
interior designers.
As we grow our business and strive to deliver excellent value to our
customers, we also plan to step up our environmental conservation
efforts. We will soon launch the Green Dream campaign which aims
to plant one millions trees over the next five years. As a company,
we have embarked on initiatives to reduce our carbon footprint
including launching only water-based products in the market. We
highly value the community around us. This year, we sponsored the
88th Rotary District Conference held in April in Mombasa. Crown
Paints will continue to support the good work of the Rotarians.
We also continue to support education for less privileged children
in our society through school fees and feeding programs.
As I sign off, the promise I made in the last edition stands.
I guarantee that more innovative products are on the way.
