Dear Fellow Shareowners,
It is once again a moment of great honour for me to communicate with my
esteemed stakeholders on the journey so far in the last one year since I communicated with
you all. I hope this message finds you safe and in good health. The year gone by had its
own ups and downs but overall I can say with confidence that we have been able to weather
the storm and I am sure with the kind of support from all my stakeholders, we would be
able to address all the future challenges also.
As they say, crisis comes with an opportunity. It is a matter of
capitalising on this opportunity and taking our company to the next level.
My narrative on the financials results of the company is fully
optimistic in spite of a dip in the crucial numbers due Covid-19 impact being felt world
over by the last quarter of Financial Year 2019-2020. Gross margins have shrunk from 8.66%
to 5.39% as compared to previous year. Low volumes accompanied with increase in the
freight rates have dented the margins. Further we have not been adequately incentivised by
the airlines due to low volumes which would have otherwise directly added to our margins.
The Airlines are barely flying owing to CoVID-19 Pandemic globally.
Thus, we had significant drops in the top-line freight from January. The airline capacity
will not improve drastically atleast till March, 2021.
Having said that due to our negotiation strength with all major
airlines we should be able to address this issue in times to come. Volume generation would
be based on the demand for which we have already geared up in terms of recruiting
additional sales and marketing staff.
Serving customer with top most service experience and not to let go any
business, we have embarked on a journey of backward integration in terms of chartering
freighters and providing additional capacity to our clients. I am confident that with this
initiative we would be serving client to the maximum with zero regrets on account of non
availability of space.
With the unlocking happening across India and increase in mobility
within the country, the company would be able to capitalise on improving margins for our
Express cargo business. Once the international movement starts happening, a further boost
would be received in terms of volumes from international markets like US, UAE and Europe
where we have a good foothold. With the kind of cargo, we cater to i.e. perishable, I do
not see demand not going back to Pre-CoVID levels, once the pandemic related restrictions
are lifted nationally and internationally.
It is also our endeavour to do business in these situation with
selected clients with good repute and having a history of timely payment. In this process
of doing business with selected KYC compliant clients only, your company compromised on
the volumes rather then adding further receivables and elongating the working capital
cycle.
As prudence demands, we have been trying to manage our finance cost
which did increase in the current year. However, as a best business practise we have
adopted a model of doing business with selected KYC compliant clients only, with an eye on
the management of our day's sales outstanding maximum upto 60 days.
All our efforts would be made in the direction of tapping the borrowing
at concessional rates as offered by Government of India under its various schemes for
MSME. As always, our bankers have been a pillar of support in our business and would be
the case in future also.
With all the above initiatives and efforts in the direction of business
growth, I am sure that your company would able to withstand all future challenges.
As they say when the going gets tough the tough gets going. With the
kind of tsunami in the name of CoVID-19 has covered the entire world, it would be the
survival of the fitess in these situation. To withstand these tough economic situations
would not be easy for many businesses. Hence, it would also be an opportunity for
investors to identify the companies with strong fundamentals and I am confident that your
company would be one of them. No better parameter for any investors to onboard such
companies in their portfolio.
I close my speech by placing on records my sincere thanks to all my
stakeholders i.e. government of India, Banker, customers, vendors, employees and all the
people who have been a part of this journey. It is not possible to achieve any results
without the overwhelming support of all these stakeholders.
Once again I wish and pray to God almighty that we get rid of this
pandemic and once again our country and this world becomes a better place to live with no
more people dying.
I sign off by leaving you all with the words from one of the famous
albums of the Legend Michael Jackson "Heal the world, make this better place for you
and me and for entire world"
Warm Regards,
Richard F. Theknath
Managing Director