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Directors Report
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Utique Enterprises Ltd.
BSE CODE: 500014   |   NSE CODE: NA   |   ISIN CODE : INE096A01010   |   22-Nov-2024 Hrs IST
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March 2015

DIRECTORS' REPORT

Your Directors present their Twenty-Ninth Annual Report together with audited financial statement of the Company for the financial year ended March 31, 2015

STATE OF AFFAIRS, MANAGEMENT DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

During the year under review, the Company continued its focus on recovery of dues. The Management is exploring various options to embark on business activities, which offer potential for profitable growth.

DIVIDEND

On account of accumulated loss and restrained resources, your Directors regret their inability to recommend Dividend.

SUBSIDIARY

As on March 31, 2015, Apple Asset Management Limited is the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. The said subsidiary company was in the business of managing Schemes of Apple Mutual Fund viz., Apple Midas Fund - The Gold Share and Apple Platinum Share. Effective December 27, 1999, both the Schemes of Apple Mutual Fund were taken over by Birla Mutual Fund and since then, the said subsidiary company has not carried on any business.

A statement containing the salient features of the financial statement of the Company's subsidiary under Section 129(3) of the Companies Act, 2013 read with Rule 5 of the Companies (Accounts) Rules, 2014 has been annexed in Form No.AOC-1 and marked as Annexure 'A'.

The audited financial statement of the subsidiary company is placed on the Company's website and the Members interested in obtaining copy of Annual Report of the subsidiary company are advised to write to the Company at the Registered Office.

During the financial year under review, apart from Apple Asset Management Limited, no other company became or ceased to be the Company's subsidiary, joint venture or associate company.

Although the Company does not have a material subsidiary, pursuant to Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement, the Company has formulated a policy for determining material subsidiary and the said policy can be accessed on the Company's website www. applefinance.co.in

EXTRACT OF ANNUAL RETURN

Pursuant to Section 134(3)(a) and Section 92(3) of the Companies Act, 2013 read with Rule 12 of the Companies (Management and Administration) Rules, 2014, the extract of the Annual Return as at March 31, 2015 forms part of this Report as Annexure 'B'.

NUMBER OF MEETINGS OF THE BOARD

During the financial year, the Board of Directors met four times. The details of the Board Meetings as well as Meetings of Committees have been provided in the Report on Corporate Governance.

DIRECTORS' RESPONSIBILITY STATEMENT

Pursuant to Section 134(5) of the Companies Act, 2013, the Board of Directors, to the best of their knowledge and ability, confirm that:-

a) in the preparation of the annual accounts, the applicable accounting standards have been followed along with proper explanation relating to material departures, if any.

b) the Directors have selected such accounting policies and applied them consistently and made judgements and estimates that were reasonable and prudent so as to give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Company at the end of the financial year and of the profit of the Company for the year under review.

c) the Directors have taken proper and sufficient care for the maintenance of adequate accounting records in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 for safeguarding the assets of the Company and for preventing and detecting fraud and other irregularities.

d) the Directors have prepared the annual accounts on a 'going concern' basis.

e) the Directors have laid down internal financial controls to be followed by the Company and that such internal financial controls are adequate and were operating effectively.

f) the Directors have devised proper systems to ensure compliance with the provisions of all applicable laws and that such systems were adequate and operating effectively.

INTERNAL FINANCIAL CONTROLS

Your Company has in place adequate internal financial controls with reference to financial statements. During the financial year, such controls were tested and no reportable material weakness in the design or operation was observed.

DECLARATION BY INDEPENDENT DIRECTORS

The Company has received declarations from the Independent

Directors of the Company confirming that they meet the criteria of independence as prescribed both under Section 149(6) of the Companies Act, 2013 and Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement and the same have been taken on record by the Board of Directors.

AUDITORS

Messrs Mahendra Kumbhat & Associates, Chartered Accountants (ICAI Registration No.105770W), Auditors of the Company hold office till the conclusion of the ensuing Annual General Meeting and are eligible for reappointment.

The Company has received letter from Messrs Mahendra Kumbhat & Associates to the effect that the reappointment, if made, would be within the prescribed limits under Section 141(3)(g) of the Companies Act, 2013 and that they are not disqualified for reappointment.

Members are requested to consider their reappointment as the Auditors of the Company and authorize the Board of Directors to fix their remuneration.

AUDITORS' REPORT

As regards observations of the Auditors under the head 'Opinion' in the Independent Auditors' Report, attention of the Members is invited to Note Nos.19(1) and 19(11) to the Annual Accounts, which are self-explanatory.

The Auditors have not reported any incident of fraud to the Company's Audit Committee during the year under review.

SECRETARIAL AUDIT

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 204 of the Companies Act, 2013 and the Companies (Appointment and Remuneration of Managerial Personnel) Rules, 2014, the Board of Directors of the Company had appointed M/s. Bipin Raje & Associates, Practicing Company Secretaries to undertake the Secretarial Audit of the Company for the financial year March 31, 2015. The Secretarial Audit Report is annexed as Annexure 'C'.

With reference to the observations made in the Secretarial Audit Report dated May 29, 2015 regarding non-compliance with Section 203 of the Companies Act, 2013 read with the Companies (Appointment & Remuneration of Managerial Personnel) Rules, 2014 regarding non-appointment of a Chief Financial Officer, your Directors submit that the the said observations have been duly noted and necessary action is being initiated to comply with the requirement of the said Section.

LOANS, GUARANTEES AND INVESTMENTS

During the financial year under review, the Company has neither accepted any loan or guarantee nor has made any investment attracting the provisions of Section 186 of the Companies Act,  2013.

CONTRACTS/ARRANGEMENTS WITH RELATED PARTIES

All related party transactions those were entered into during the financial year ended March 31, 2015 were in the ordinary course of business and on arm's length basis and as such, outside the purview of Section 188 of the Companies Act, 2013. The Company has accordingly nothing to report in Form No.AOC-2 and hence the same is not annexed.

Your Directors draw attention of the Members to Note No.19(10) to the standalone financial statement, which sets out related party disclosure.

The Company has adopted a policy of Related Party Transactions and the said policy can be accessed on the Company's website www.applefinance.co.in

MATERIAL CHANGES AND COMMITMENTS

There have been no material changes and commitments affecting the financial position of the Company between the end of the financial year as on March 31, 2015 and the date of this Report i.e. May 29, 2015.

CONSERVATION OF ENERGY, TECHNOLOGY ABSORPTION  AND FOREIGN EXCHANGE EARNING AND OUTGO

The information required under Rule 8 of the Companies (Accounts) Rules, 2014 read with Section 134(3) of the Companies Act, 2013 relating to conservation of energy and technology absorption is not being given since your Company is not engaged in manufacturing activity and does not have any operations.  There was no income or outflow of foreign exchange during the financial year under review.

RISK MANAGEMENT POLICY

As the business was unviable, the Company in the financial year 2003-2004 surrendered its Certificate of Registration of Non-Banking Financial Institution to Reserve Bank of India and since then the Company has not embarked on any new business activity. In the meanwhile, as part of the Company's policy, all the surplus funds of the Company have been parked in scheduled banks. The assets of the Company have been adequately insured. As and when the Company will undertake a business activity, your Directors will immediately formulate an appropriate Risk Management Policy.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

The Company has not constituted a Corporate Social Responsibility Committee since the Company does not meet with any of the three conditions prescribed in Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013 and the Rules made thereunder for constitution of a Corporate Social Responsibility Committee.

POLICY ON DIRECTORS' APPOINTMENT AND REMUNERATION

The Board of Directors has on the recommendation of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee framed a policy for selection and appointment of Directors, Senior Management and their remuneration. The Remuneration Policy has been annexed to this Report and marked as Annexure 'D'.

Neither the Managing Director nor the other Directors receive any remuneration, commission or sitting fees from the subsidiary company, Apple Asset Management Limited.

BOARD EVALUATION

The evaluation framework for assessing the performance of Directors comprises the following key areas:-

i. Attendance of Board meetings and Board Committee meetings

ii. Quality of contribution to Board deliberations.

iii. Strategic perspectives or inputs regarding the business plans of the Company and its performance.

iv. Providing perspectives and feedback going beyond information provided by the Management.

v. Commitment to shareholders and other stakeholders interests.

The evaluation involves Self-Evaluation by Board Member and subsequently assessment by the Board of Directors. A member of the Board shall not participate in the discussion of his/her evaluation.

DIRECTORS AND KEY MANAGERIAL PERSONNEL

At the 28th Annual General Meeting held on September 25, 2014, Mr. Mahindra S. Shah and Ms. Jacqueline Patel were appointed Independent Directors to hold office for 5 (five) consecutive years for a term up to the conclusion of the 33rd Annual General Meeting of the Company.

Further, Mr. Mahesh K. Rachh was reappointed as the Managing Director to hold office for a period of 2 (two) years effective August 9, 2014.

At the 29th Annual General Meeting scheduled to be held on September 24, 2015, Mr. Mahesh Raghavan Menon is sought to be reappointed as the Non-Executive Director of the Company.

Mr. Mahesh K. Rachh, Managing Director and Mr. P. B. Deshpande, Company Secretary are the Key Managerial Personnel of the Company. There was no change in the Company's Key Managerial Personnel.

None of the Directors and Key Managerial Personnel is in any way related to each other.

VIGIL MECHANISM

The Company's Vigil Mechanism, which also incorporates a whilstle blower policy in terms of the Listing Agreement, includes a Committee of Directors. Protected disclosures can be made by a whistle blower through an email, telephone call or a letter to the Committee or to the Chairman of the Audit Committee. The policy on vigil mechanism and whistle blower policy may be accessed on the Company's website www.applefinance.co.in

PARTICULARS OF EMPLOYEES

The information required under Section 197(12) of the Companies Act, 2013 read with Rule 5 of the Companies (Appointment and Remuneration of Managerial Personnel) Rules, 2014 in respect of employees of the Company, is provided in Annexure 'E'.

PUBLIC DEPOSITS

Your Company, during the financial year under review, has not accepted any deposits from public. The Company had no unclaimed or unpaid deposits as on March 31, 2015.

CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENT

The Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared by your Company in accordance with Accounting Standard 21 issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the same together with the Auditors' Report thereon form  part of the Annual Report. The financial statements have been prepared as per Schedule III to the Companies Act, 2013.

AUDIT COMMITTEE

The Company's Audit Committee comprises Mr. Mahendra S. Shah, Ms. Jacqueline Patel, Independent Directors and Mr. Mahesh K. Rachh. All the recommendations made by the Audit Committee were accepted by the Board.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

A report on Corporate Governance stipulated by Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement is annexed hereto and forms part of this Annual Report.

The requisite certificate from the Company's Auditors confirming compliance with the conditions of Corporate Governance as stipulated under Clause 49 is attached to the Report on Corporate Governance.

ORDERS BY REGULATORS, COURTS OR TRIBUNALS

No significant and/or material orders were passed by any regulator or court or tribunal impacting the going concern status or the Company's operations in future.

GREEN INITIATIVE

Your Directors would like to draw your attention to Section 101 of the Companies Act, 2013 and other applicable provisions thereof read with Rule 18 of the Companies (Management & Administration) Rules, 2014 and Section 20 of the Companies Act, 2013 read with Rule 35 of the Companies (Incorporation) Rules, 2014 which inter alia allows paperless compliances and also service of notice/documents (including Annual Report) through electronic mode to its Members. To support this green initiative in full measure, your Directors hereby once again appeal to all those Members who have not registered their email addresses so far to register their email addresses in respect of electronic holdings with their concerned Depository Participants and/or the Company.

HUMAN RESOURCES

During the financial year under review, there were no cases filed under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.

The relations, during the financial year, between the employees and the Management of your Company continued to be cordial.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Your Directors wish to express their gratitude to the shareholders for their support. They also wish to acknowledge the spirit of dedication, commitment and cooperation extended by our employees.

For and on behalf of the Board

Mahesh K. Rachh  

Managing Director

Mahendra S. Shah

Director

Place: Mumbai

Date: May 29, 2015