Dear Friends,
We are delighted to let you know that the company has done it again.
The best ever performance at the back of the highest-level benchmark, reached last year.
This year the turnover has crossed Rs 18,000 crores, the EBIDTA and the PBT for the year
have registered even more remarkable growth of over 175% and 230% respectively. The
consolidated financial performance of the company has also registered a good performance
thereby indicating that all major subsidiaries of the company have started functioning
profitably and have made contributions to the bottom line of the consolidated results. The
current order book gives us a clear visibility of the next few quarters. This instils
confidence that we will be able to maintain our high-performance levels.
The tailwind of the high-growth Indian economy has supported our
journey. The Government of India over the last few years has pursued a comprehensive and
multi-dimensional strategy to foster all-around development and growth which has given
rise to a stable and sustainable demand in key infrastructures where our products are also
used. The macro-economic factors like inflation, exchange rates, liquidity, benchmark
interest rates and continuity in governance have provided a stable business environment
for private sector corporates to flourish and do well as per their intrinsic potential.
2024, being a national election year, we expect continuity of good governance to be
maintained with a stable government. Based on this assessment, we are hopeful that the
business environment will remain conducive and provide corporates like us enough
opportunities for continued good performance.
On the other hand, the global economy has wobbled a little bit but now
showing signs of resilience with growth slowly picking up and inflation gradually reducing
towards the target. Led by fast-growing economies like India and gradual improvement in
major economies like the US and China, it appears that the world economy has avoided a
hard landing and recession, which is good news for the world. Europe continues to have a
sluggish growth but at least the trend appears positive. The continuing conflict between
Russia and Ukraine continues to impact the global geo-political environment. Now, the
Middle East seem to become a hotspot between the Israel - Palestine conflict which looks
like spilling over into an Israel - Iran direct conflict that can prove to be very
detrimental to the region. The Houthis in Yemen and the Hezbollah in Syria are adding to
the complexity of the instability which if escalates can seriously disrupt the sea route
through the Mediterranean impacting the world trade in a significant fashion.
The global geo-political uncertainty and the recent isolation of China
by the US and other major economies of Europe has caused turmoil in the supply chain
structure of the world which India has seen as an opportunity and is striving hard to
become a manufacturing hub and fill the gap of the supply chain across the globe. The
fundamental strength of the Indian economy provides it with enough muscle to make large
investments in new sectors like semiconductors, renewable energy, and hi-tech developments
while maintaining its focus on core infrastructure development. The defence sector is
another key focus area where the country has taken a frog leap to indigenize modern
warfare equipment like stealth fighters, aircraft carriers, modern submarines etc. All
these developments are good news and point towards a sustainable all-round growth which we
are all encouraged about.
Our joint venture with Hunting Energy Services is now fully functional
and we are contributing premium connection pipes and tubes to the OCTG market which has
thus far been dependent upon imports. The JV is likely to enter the export market soon
with some value-added products. The stainless-steel pipes and tubes have also captured a
reasonable market share and we continue to move up the value chain by using higher grades
and making exotic products like instrumentation tubing etc.
The focus on support functions, sustainability, innovation, automation,
systems & processes continues to get sharper and deeper to stay in step with the
current times of growing size and complexity of the company and also to prepare the
company for the next level of growth.
With continued good performance and a very stable capital structure,
the company will continue to explore and examine the possibility of future growth and
development to enhance the shareholders' value and keep other stakeholders happy at the
same time.
Our CSR initiative, Svayam continues to work with NGOs, Government
organizations and multilateral agencies creating awareness about the accessibility at
public places for the elderly, differently-abled and people with typical conditions in
India and abroad.
The company continues to invest in human resources to maintain a work
environment conducive to good performance.
The Government authorities at the Centre, State and local levels, other
stakeholders, clients and vendors have played a significant part in the company delivering
the best ever performance and we appreciate and acknowledge their support in this regard.
In our growth journey, the banks and financial institutions have played a crucial role in
providing timely financial support which is a pre-requisite for private corporates to grow
and deliver. We thank the credit rating agencies for imposing their faith in us and
continuing with our ratings in "AA" category for long-term indebtedness.
At the end, I would like to acknowledge all investors and shareholders
who have realized the fundamental strength and intrinsic value of the company which has
reflected in the current market capitalization. We will strive hard to create shareholders
value by delivering good performance year on year.
| Jai Hind! |
| Prithavi Raj Jindal Chairperson (Non-Executive) |