Noel Tata's nomination to Tata Sons board approved at 107th AGM

Tata Sons' 107th AGM saw shareholders clear Noel Tata's appointment, other board changes and a higher dividend, with FY25 profit down on lower investment gains

Shareholders of Tata Sons Pvt Ltd, the unlisted holding company of the $150 billion Tata group, on Thursday cleared the appointment of Noel Tata and three others as directors at the company’s 107th annual general meeting (AGM). Noel Tata, who became chairman of Tata Trusts in October 2024, was nominated to the Tata Sons board by the Trusts and appointed as an additional director. Now this appointment has got shareholders’ nod.

 

Shareholders also approved the reappointment of Venu Srinivasan and Saurabh Agrawal, and appointed Anita Marangoly George — cofounder and chief executive officer (CEO) of emerging-markets growth fund Prosperete — as an independent director. The fast-paced shareholders' meeting ended within 30 minutes after clearing all the resolutions. Chairman N Chandrasekharan addressed the shareholders in the online meeting.

 

At the AGM, the shareholders also cleared the dividend. The board had recommended dividend of ₹64,900 per ordinary share, up from ₹35,000 last year. The payout amounts to ₹2,622.91 crore, and Tata Trusts, which owns 66 per cent of Tata Sons, will receive ₹1,731 crore to fund its philanthropic work.

 

For 2024-25 (FY25), Tata Sons reported revenue of ₹38,834.58 crore, down from ₹43,893 crore a year earlier, when results included a ₹9,375.66 crore gain from the sale of investments. Expenses fell to ₹1,945.64 crore from ₹2,776.49 crore. Profit before tax (PBT) dropped to ₹35,440.76 crore from ₹39,813.16 crore while profit after tax (PAT) fell to ₹26,231.74 crore from ₹34,653.98 crore.

 

The company repaid all borrowings during the year, ending March with net cash of ₹7,117.43 crore versus ₹2,679.19 crore a year earlier. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had asked Tata Sons to list its shares by September this year after classifying it as an upper layer non-banking financial company (NBFC Upper Layer). But after repaying its entire debt, Tata Sons applied to the RBI, urging it to declassify it as an NBFC Upper Layer so that it can remain private. The Tata application is currently pending with the central bank.

 

The meeting took place against the backdrop of peace talks between Tata Sons and the Shapoorji Pallonji group — holder of 18.4 per cent of Tata Sons — for a potential exit. No agreement has been reached so far.

 

With the retirement of Ajay Piramal and Ralf Speth by early next month, two new directors will be inducted in the near future, group sources said.