CHAIRMAN
Dear Shareholders,
It is my privilege to present before you the 45th Annual Report for the
Financial year ended 31st March, 2014.
Financial year 2013-14 was the second successive year of economic hardships. To speak
about global crisis and uncertainties might sound too repetitive as economic problems
continued due to political uncertainties this year as well. Matters were far worse in
manufacturing, the activity that comprises your Company's business.
Operating in such a scenario, I would like to state that the turnover and bottomline of
the Company in FY 13-14 has been below our expectations due to challenging economic and
market conditions. Though numbers and financials would not reveal the testing times faced
by your Company to sustain in such an environment. The domestic manufacturing sector has
been experiencing slowdown for the past few years. The slowdown in infrastructure,
railways and key industries where we do business has resulted in sluggish order inflows,
delay in taking deliveries/ execution of projects, delayed payments, etc. All these
factors led to lower order book and lower turnover for the year. This situation was
particularly visible at the end of second quarter, when the order inflows were abysmally
low. However, the last quarter of the year saw significant recovery in order intake but
the same were booked for despatch in the next financial year. On order execution side, the
financial constraints of some customers like Railways have resulted in deferment of
tenders and deliveries and consequently impacted our topline. Lower turnover also impacted
our margins as full absorption of fixed overheads could not be achieved. However, we did
generate cash profits for the year.
During the year, the Company continued its expansion of territories for exports. The
exports contribution was more than ? 4 crores during the year. Our international spread is
expanding and we have been well received in the developed countries that are approaching
us and they range from North and South America to Far East and Europe. We expect our
exports to pick up in the coming years as well.
Overall, with an improved order booking in the first two months of the current
financial year, we believe that the Company should achieve growth in turnover of around
25-30% while maintaining the margins at current level, during the Financial year 2014-15.
On behalf of the entire Company and its leadership team, I want to thank each
shareholder for their support and commitment to the Company. This is beginning of a long
path and I see gradual improvement in the performance of the Company in coming years. It
is difficult task, yet I am seeing changes and can expect better days ahead. I look
forward to your continued support as your Company enters into consolidation phase and
embarks upon the growth path.
With best regards,
Hasmukh J. Shah
Chairman