Atul Ltd 2009-10

8 / Atul Ltd | Annual Report 2009-10 Dear Friends, 2009-10 commenced with the concern that the world economy may further worsen and plunge into a long depression. However, as the year moved on, there were tentative indications of improvement in India, particularly seen during the second half even as the large developed economies continued to post a negative growth in GDP. The key developing economies, China and India in particular, grew in GDP though the rate declined in spite of high internal demand. The price of crude oil came down from the peak it had reached in 2008. Indian Re strengthened against the USD as well as Euro after weakening to an all time low. Indeed, we now live in a world that is highly interdependent and an era of considerable uncertainties. The overall performance of Chemical Industry deteriorated during the year, not only because of the economic downturn, but also due to the fundamental changes taking place in the structure of the Industry. Environment protection and energy conservation are the two foremost challenges for chemical companies as they endeavour to become competitive and customer focused. Amidst this background, the performance of the Company for 2009-10 was as follows: 1) Sales were higher by less than 1% in terms of value and 18 % in terms of volume 2) Variable cost as a per cent of operating revenues at 69% was similar 3) Fixed expenses (before interest and depreciation) as a percent of operating revenues at 19% were higher by 1% 4) EBITDA margin before foreign exchange impact at 13% was lower by 1% ‘We will work with a sense of purpose, with an inspiring visionand with a strategy of transformation. Therefore, we will not only face the contemporary challenges, but will also pledge our unflinching allegiance to a future that has multi-dimensional multipliers for growth’ Sunil S Lalbhai 9 Overview by the Chairman