A New Kind of Message from IVL’s CEO to Stakeholders

The message from Aloke Lohia, Group Chief Executive Officer of Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL), that was published through SETSMART not long ago had left investors wondering about the intention of this certain CEO from IVL.

The content in this seven-page letter contained a message to regain investors’ trust in IVL after a huge plunge which caused IVL’s shares to sink 10% since new year at ฿54.00/share, and also around ฿59-฿60/share before that.

However, the curious part was in the content of the letter that used more casual language than what any other company or even IVL itself had used in the past. For example, the quote from Jimmy Dean “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.”

This had completely changed the writing style of any announcement or message from one company to stakeholders or investors.

 

As for the intention of Aloke Lohia in the making of this unusual letter, there seem to be two perspectives on this matter.

First, Aloke Lohia wanted to point out IVL’s business direction and policy in 2019. The company, of course, was still advancing on PET businesses, including Polyester Staple Fiber by using a holding company strategy to takeover companies globally. IVL took over 12 companies in 2018.

The second perspective, which seems to be the main intention of this letter, is about gaining trust from investors. IVL faced a huge fall when a lot of securities companies confirmed that IVL’s profit in 4Q18 would decrease when compared to the previous quarter and the same period in 2017, which caused panic in the market and a major selloff from investors that sank its share price nonstop.

 

Evidently, the growth of IVL that brought the company to be the leader of PET business came from the takeover of various international companies and always at a cheap price and good businesses.

However, there was one question that remained unanswered. If the business was ‘that’ good, why did the former owner decide to dispose of IVL’s shares? Also, how long can PET business buoy IVL when the global trend has turned to preserve the environment? This may lower the trend in PET business, even though IVL also recycles PET as well.

Are these the risks that investors foresee and then decided to step back from investing in IVL?

Nevertheless, let’s hope that the letter from Aloke Lohia, the trendsetter of using casual language in the announcement, will regain investors’ trust and bring them back to the company.