UltraTech Cement

At the business level too, we are on a relatively strong footing. Your
 Companys net revenues crossed US$ 1,390 million (Rs.6,383 crores) up
 by 16% over that of the preceding year. Net Profitstood at US$ 213
 million (Rs.977 crores).
 
 Your Company has taken major initiatives to ensure profitable growth in
 the foreseeable future. An in-depth presentation of these steps has
 been detailed in the Management Discussion and Analysis, so I will
 highlight only the key points.
 
 The various expansion and modernisation programs initiated by your
 Company to grow in the markets in which it operates have been largely
 completed. Commercial production of cement has commenced from its Unit
 in Andhra Pradesh Cement Works (APCW) and grinding Unit at Ginigera,
 Karnataka. Your Companys total capacity will stand enhanced to 23.1
 mtpa on commissioning of the residual cement capacity in the pipeline
 at APCW.
 
 With the captive Thermal Power Plants going on stream across its Units,
 your Company will have access to around 236 MW of captive power,
 catering to nearly 80% of its power requirements.
 
 Your Company has invested nearly Rs.3,200 crores over the years in
 these initiatives, aimed at improving productivity levels and
 optimizing costs.
 
 We expect cement demand to grow in line with the GDP and linked to
 Government spends on infrastructure and housing. However, with the
 planned capacity commencing production, the industry is likely to see a
 surplus scenario from the second-half of FY10, which will result in
 pressure on margins. Your Company will continue to focus on stabilising
 plant performance and optimising efficiencies.
 
 I believe our people are our biggest strength. We have further
 strengthened our endeavours, in these times of
 
 a slowdown, to aggressively establish a performance oriented culture
 that rewards better performance and distinguishes the best performers
 from the others. I would like to acknowledge all of our performers who
 deliver results.
 
 The Aditya Birla Group: In Perspective
 
 Today, we manage multinational teams – 1,30,000 employees, comprising
 30 nationalities, across 25 countries, anchor our US$ 29.2 billion
 meritocratic conglomerate. Our values – Integrity, Commitment, Passion,
 Seamlessness and Speed, is the thread that strings us together.
 
 Post our Group being declared the “Best Employer” in 2007 by the Hewitt
 / Economic Times / Wall Street Study, our brand as an employer
 continues to grow strongly. More than 8,000 leading professionals from
 India and globally have teamed up with us.
 
 Our rigorous assessment process, inclusive of Development Assessment
 Centres, assesses our people early in their career on their potential
 to hold leadership roles. This way, we have ensured that we have a
 robust bench strength of talent. We also use short term secondments and
 long term assignments to develop the capability of our people to work
 across borders. This year over 1,700 colleagues have been job rotated.
 
 Over 80% of our businesses have participated in a compensation
 benchmarking exercise this year and we have taken significant
 corrective and proactive measures to stay competitive and attractive.
 This positioning will further help us to attract and retain the right
 talent.
 
 We lay great emphasis on continuous learning through our in-house
 learning university – Gyanodaya. This globally benchmarked institution
 leverages resources from around the world to meet the development needs
 of our people. Over a 1,000 executives have taken courses this year.
 Additionally, more than 14,000 employees spread across the world, from
 Farmington
 
 Hills in USA to Giza in Egypt to Perth in Australia and Renukoot in
 Uttar Pradesh have used Gyanodaya’s E-learning platform called GVC. GVC
 prides itself in having a course completion ratio of 90%, which is a
 world benchmark.
 
 As perhaps many of you may be aware we track the organisational climate
 every two years. We use the Organisational Health Survey (OHS), as the
 barometer of employee engagement at work. It is conducted by Gallup.
 Over 22,000 executives, across 17 businesses, spanning 25 countries and
 750 cities/interiors participated in the OHS6. The participation level
 at 94%, according to Gallup, is a benchmark. 83% of the employees
 surveyed in the OHS6 said that they are proud to be an employee of the
 Aditya Birla Group and get professional satisfaction working here. 67%
 of our management employees have clearly emphasized their confidence in
 the ability of the leaders at various levels to successfully manage the
 emerging challenges that the Group is facing. Almost three-fourths of
 our employees (73%) have stated that they would definitely advocate our
 Group as a place to build a meaningful career.
 
 Going forward, I would like to emphasize that the brand of leadership
 that we seek to build combines the virtues of professionalism with the
 commanding power of the mind, heart and soul. The mind which has the
 intellect to perceive the right from the wrong, the heart which has an
 emotional bond with the organisation that cannot be severed, and a soul
 that is indomitable. Our biggest strength has been an emotional bonding
 that our employees have with the Group that makes the paradigm of duty
 truly boundaryless.
 
 Best Regards,
 
                                                          Yourssincerely
 
                                                    Kumar Mangalam Birla