Dear Shareholders,
I am herewith presenting the annual report of your Company for the
financial year (FY) 2021-22.
As you know, the year was a challenging one for people and businesses
at large across the world due to the continued Covid pandemic and its effects. While there
was no nationwide lockdown in India, business operations across all sectors were affected.
Due to a steep rise in the price of crude oil, our material costs increased. We had to
also face an unprecedented hike in freight charges. As the domestic and global economies
started to recover, there was a scramble to reoperationalise supply chains, and we faced
huge challenges getting containers to dispatch shipments to our customers.
In this difficult situation, we followed the principle of 'family
first'. To ensure that all our employees and their families remained safe and well, we set
up task forces that communicated regularly with each employee and offered help as
required. In parallel, task force teams across all areas of operations met every day to
handle a multitude of issues and ensure all our SOPs were meticulously implemented to
minimize any risk to our team. I am happy to inform you that your Company's deep connect
with its employees was independently recognised by the Great Place to Work? Institute
India.
In 2022, your Company was ranked by this organisation as 49th amongst
India's best companies to work for across categories. There was a significant increase in
our trust index score under this survey. This is a core value of your Company and its
heartening to note the connect and engagement amongst the GTFL Family.
Our customers continued to repose faith in our value-added solutions,
our zeal for quality, and our commitment to deliver the orders. Leveraging our modular
manufacturing capability, we ramped up production, kept our customers updated, and worked
relentlessly to overcome logistical hurdles for dispatches. Performance in the first
quarter was impacted by the Covid second wave, but as the year progressed, we moved full
steam ahead. We could pass on input cost hikes, and by the end of the financial year, we
could restore our margins.
I am happy to report that despite the adverse conditions, your Company
could register a healthy revenue increase in FY 2021-22.
Our performance in international markets in the aquaculture and sports
segments stood out. We bagged a large order for V2, our pioneering, environment-friendly
solution for the aquaculture industry, from one of the largest players in the world in
this segment. Our sports products did exceedingly well in international markets,
registering significant sales growth. We could also get breakthrough international orders
for our agriculture solutions, a large potential market for our future.
In the domestic market, our geosynthetics solutions brought record
growth in revenue. Sales of our agriculture solutions like crop safety nets grew at a
healthy pace. We continued to maintain a healthy market position in the domestic fishnet,
ropes, and twines business.
Our plants responded magnificently to the challenge of meeting varied
customer orders, and the fabrication section registered a record increase in output.
Your Company achieved consolidated revenue of Rs 1189.40 crores for the
year ended 31st March 2022, an increase of 15% over the previous year's consolidated
revenue of Rs 1034.57 crores. Consolidated Operating EBITDA in the year under review was
Rs 222.90 crores increased by 9% comparing to previous year. Consolidated profit before
tax was Rs 216.41 crores, an increase of 4% over the previous year. Your Board of
Directors has declared an equity dividend of 70% amounting to Rs 7/- per share.
Staying committed to the mission of providing innovative,
application-focused solutions to enhance value of customers globally, your Company's
R&D worked on several promising applications. During the year, applications for 10
patents were filed and 2 patents were received. Till date your Company has received 23
patents, and many more are in the pipeline.
Considering the challenging business environment, the revenue growth
and profitability of your Company in the year under review has been satisfactory. Apart
from our strong fundamentals, it was the extraordinary effort put in by your Company's
team that made the performance possible. This effort won heartening words of appreciation
from many of our customers.
Looking at the future, I would like to reiterate that your Company has
demonstrated the flexibility and perseverance to deal with myriad challenges in the
business environment. Nearly 75% of our portfolio is composed of value-added products that
are preferred for the long-term benefits they bring to our customers' businesses.
Increased penetration in existing geographies and entering new geographies continues to be
our primary path for growth. Outside the food industry, which is the end customer for the
majority of our solutions, our sports and geosynthetics businesses enjoy bright prospects.
Overall, we have an optimistic outlook for the future. I look forward to your continued
support to keep us on the path of mission-driven growth.
With warm regards,
V. R. Garware
Chairman & Managing Director