GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT

Bharat K. Sheth, Deputy Chairman & MD of Great Eastern Shipping, took the tough decisions early and that has helped the firm pounce on opportunities when they arise

- Krishna Gopalan

LIKE FOR MANY executives across the world, the Lehman moment in 2008 was a big wake up call for Bharat K. Sheth. "We were always conservative as a company. Lehman taught us we were not conservative enough for Black Swan events and that was a huge learning," says the Deputy Chairman & Managing Director of The Great Eastern Shipping Co. Ltd.

It was time to get back to the basics, and that meant revisiting the risk model. From a fundamental point of view, it was about defining risk and how to prepare for the unexpected. "Shipping is a very capex-intensive business, and everything hinges on capital allocation. The question is: What is the leverage within which you are willing to play the game," explains Sheth.

A decision to cut back on debt was taken. Interestingly, the company was in very good shape (it had a triple A rating), and this was done proactively. There was a committed capex of $1.6 billion, but banks were understandably nervous, and funding could have become a challenge.