Chairman´s letter
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Dear shareholder: 2008 —a complicated year, of increasing difficulties, which were greater than that which could have been foreseen— has been a satisfying one for Indra. After the successful integration of Azertia and Soluziona in the previous financial year, for this past year we set some undoubtedly demanding objectives, which although assuming a deterioration in the general and sector economic environment, it was not contemplated that it would be so extensive, intense and rapid as it has turned out to be. Despite this less favorable fact, we have met and surpassed the objectives set at the start of the year, positioning ourselves for another year at the head of our sector in growth and profitability. This sound achievement of our objectives makes clear that, with a size and complexity far greater than a few years ago, we maintain an agile and flexible organization, attentive at all times to changes in the environment, with a capacity to anticipate and react rapidly, lead by a management team that maintains the tension and demands necessary to drive and adopt the decisions required. The Board of Directors as well as the company management is strongly committed to our stakeholders: shareholders, clients, professionals, and the communities where we carry out and plan our operations. Although times like the present remind us that the basic priority is to survive and maintain the successes that we have achieved, we can and should aspire to continue strengthening our position, to achieve greater levels of stability and increase our potential for development. We cannot at this time define, in the way that we are accustomed, the future horizons and the paths to follow, their reach or duration: but we know that in Indra, we will do so intensifying our status as a technologically strong innovating company, capable of attracting the best talent and fostering their development in a framework of ambition, rigor and determination to realize our objectives, with an evermore global presence and dedicated to leading well renowned clients. In the past 2008 financial year we celebrated the fifteenth anniversary of the birth of the project that Indra has made reality. These values- ambition, rigor, determination and commitment- have been present at all times, when we defined our project and in every one of the years gone by; and will continue being so in the future. At our foundation as well as at some later moments we have already had to face serious difficulties. Without false modesty we can say that, on those occasions, we have known how to combine these values in order to look forward with eyes on the future, managing the present with realism and prudence. Which is what we are doing at the moment, in the first place in the setting of short-term targets and in operational management, to maintain and reinforce our credibility and preserve our levels of profitability and financial soundness. At the same time we continue to think long-term and mount actions for a wide-ranging horizon. We are convinced that the best times for Indra have yet to come. In all the vertical markets where we operate there exists high potential demand for the technologies that make up the nucleus of our knowledge and capacity for innovation; we have a solid position of top level clients; and we continue to consolidate the presence in geographical markets to deal with this challenge. Our future will be determined by our capacity to continue to persevere and concentrate in depth on the four vectors that I have mentioned: evolving and developing our offer with a strong technological content; recruiting and retaining the best talent; maintaining and strengthening the position in a growing number of leading clients and with high level business products; and growing development and international presence. This conviction, from the realism that we manage at the present time, has driven us, for another year, to set demanding objectives for 2009, with relevant and distinctive growth with regard to our sector, preserving our already high profitability levels and the sound balance position that we maintain; and also proposing an increased dividend, proof of our confidence in the future and in our capacity to continue generating value. These words could seem to be of an arbitrary nature or that they do not spring from the sufficient recognition of the gravity of the present time. It is not like that. We have proven and maintain our capacity to correctly diagnose concrete situations to act responsibly. but it is true that they are formed from a strong passion, that we believe necessary at all times in a business project such as ours to continue its development and to give sound replies to the expectations of all those who have deposited their confidence in us. We maintain the same ambition as we have had in the last fifteen years and we are as committed for Indra to continue generating hope and value for all on solid and sustainable bases. In line with the commitment to improve the rendering of accounts of our economic, environmental and social performance, this year we present the information in a manner integrated in a single report “Indra, sustainable growth”. This report has been produced conforming to the G3 directives of the Global reporting Initiative, following an application level of A+, as well as Accountability standard AA1000. We have also continued to advance in the application of the principles defined in the Global Compact. All this constitutes a balanced and reasonable presentation of the economic, environmental and social performance of our organization, which has been externally verified. Javier Monzón |