BARTRONICS INDIA LIMITED
ANNUAL REPORT 2008-2009
CHAIRMAN'S REPORT
Dear Shareholders,
Good Morning Dear Shareowners,
It gives me great pleasure in welcoming you all to the 18th Annual General
Meeting of your Company and I thank you all for your gracious presence.
It's my privilege to address this august gathering and to share my views on
the AIDC industry with you and to discuss the performance of your Company.
The Director's report, Auditors report and Audited Accounts with notes
thereon are with you for some time, I request your kind permission to take
them as read.
The year 2008-09 has been an eventful year characterized by a lot of
apprehension. The Financial crisis of 2008 became a global phenomenon.
Economic activities in the developing and the developed countries fell down
alike and that too abruptly. Indian Companies have also been adversely
affected by the economic slowdown across industries and the revenues as
well as the profits have come down. Despite this your company has performed
fairly well for the last financial year.
Financial:
* Revenue growth of 103.88%
* EBITDA growth of over 145.15%
* PBT growth of over 66%
* PAT growth of over 46.99%
Customers, Expansion and Growth:
* The Company has been successful in getting big orders from some industry
leaders during the year. These will have a positive impact on the
performance of the company moving forward.
* The Company has expanded its operations globally through its subsidiary
companies in USA and Singapore.
* The industry continues to grow between 25% and 80% CAGR in the various
segments that your company operates in.
As you would observe it was a year of progress on all the perspectives and
we plan to build upon these successes. This in turn has provided us with
multiyear relationships with our clients enabling planned sustainable
growth for years to come.
Future Prospects:
As mentioned earlier, the industry, though growing is at a threshold with
the impact of global slowdown on one side and imminent recovery on the
other. We believe that once the impact of the economic recovery starts
becoming being felt, your company would be in an envious position to
exploit the emerging opportunities. Your company fortunately has the right
combination of adequate infrastructure, aggressive manpower, a clear vision
and understanding which has been built up over the last few years. Given
this scenario, it should not be a surprise that Bartronics can look forward
to an aggressive growth phase moving ahead. Time and again, the management
has shared the future growth plans with you and the media in a transparent
manner. For the current year, the outlook is cautious vis-a-vis the
performance projections that we have made earlier. From the financial year
2010-11, your company will start getting the real benefits of the current
investments.
Human Resources:
Bartronics, today is a `Vibrant Company' due to the relentless efforts,
zeal, dedication, motivation and exemplary team work at all levels of
Company's Management & Staff. It has been our continuous endeavour to
enhance the skills of employees as we consider our Human Resource to be the
most precious resource among all our tangible resources. Apart from a
regular training regime which focuses on skill up-gradation on a continuous
basis, the company is investing in other HR programmes like Team Building,
Customer Service, Communication etc. which are now becoming vital for most
of the team members who are increasingly becoming customer facing.
In line with the business growth, your company has also gradually
streamlined its manpower base with increased manpower deployment over the
past one year in overseas markets. As a company, we have also successfully
completed the integration process across various business entities of the
company. As a result, across the globe, Bartronics employees display the
same level of customer focus and emphasis on right solutions to each and
every situation that they face. As a fall out, your company is experiencing
a strong sales pipeline build up in each of the markets that we now serve
and over a period of time we believe that we will be able to develop
similar levels of customer loyalty and enjoy a similar premium as we do
amongst our customers in India.
Directors:
The affairs of your Company are being looked after by a professional Board
of Directors. The Board of Directors of your Company consists of
appropriate mix of Independent, Executive and non executive Promoter
Directors. All the Directors of your Company are well qualified and
experienced with varied core competencies.
Corporate Governance:
Your Company's philosophy on Corporate Governance envisages attainment of
the highest levels of transparency and accountability in all facets of its
operations and in its interaction with all including Clients, Employees,
Promoters, Stakeholders and Government.
Your Company has been practicing the principles of good corporate
governance over the years with the aim of enhancing long-term shareholder
value and protecting the interests of other shareholders in line with
international best practices. In fact our compliance practices transcend
the principles laid down by Statute and the Regulatory Authorities. With
the induction of our new auditors M/s Deloitte, who are assisting us in
streamlining various processes and control systems, we believe our record
keeping would match the best in the world over a period of time.
Dividend:
Considering that the company is sitting on a threshold of an exciting
future, the Board has recommended a dividend of Re. 1/- per Equity Share of
the Nominal Value of Rs. 10/- each to the shareholders of the company. This
is the maiden dividend for your company and the management hopes that the
increased levels of future performance in turn will result in more returns
to the shareholders of the company.
Acknowledgement:
Your Company owes its sustained performance to all those who worked for it
with great dedication and sacrifice.
Your Company is privileged to have a Board of Directors comprising men of
eminence with vast experience and wisdom. I would like to place on record
my sincere thanks to all the members of the Board for their wise counsel
and assistance.
My thanks are also due to the shareholders of the Company, our valuable
customers, well wishers, executives, officers and employees in the Company
for their continued support and valuable patronage extended to the Company.
I am also grateful to the many Governmental and other institutional
agencies including RBI, Stock Exchanges, Company's Bankers, Auditors' etc
for their valuable support. The last but not the least I profusely thank
for the co-operation extended by SEBI, Stock Exchanges, and our Registrars
and Share Transfer Agents for their support and services.
SUDHIR RAO
Managing Director & Chairman of the Meeting