Dear Friends

The year gone by was indeed a tough one where we took a hard look at every corner ofthe operations of the company.

All marginal areas and those areas not contributing to the financial health of thecompany were shut.

As retail markets mature there are a lot of markets and malls that go into declinewhich then starts effecting footfalls. There were a few instances like these across thecountry where we took the call of shutting shops in those markets.

Our retail footprint is spread far and wide and the cost of servicing an isolatedcompany store in a far flung region is huge. Very often not worth the effort. Our nextstep will be to rationalize these operations and try and move isolated regions to a retailor franchising model.

We continue to delight customers and remain their go to destination to fulfill theirgifting needs by a continuous flow of a variety of gifts for every pocket and occasion.This is borne out by the fact that established stores in stable markets continue to growyear on year.

The year gone by saw the introduction of GST in the month of July. This widely awaitedevent bore out what we had always felt that it would be good for organized trade. Thecash economy would suffer which in turn would only help organized players like us. Withthe government committed to rationalizing taxation slabs in GST we see the economicscenario improving even further.

Our 2016 introduction of the fun concept of Desi Archies with a view to captureIndian-ness in design has been a great success. We continue to expand the range of funquirky products sourced from the hinterlands of India and have been enthused by customerresponse to the same. This has resulted in the roll out of Desi Archies products intoalmost all our stores across the country.

Hoping for a better tomorrow is fine but without concrete action that can remain asjust hope and nothing else. We are working on a wide range of plans to strengthen ourcompany and take it forward to higher levels and continue to engage with our customer inour endeavor to help them express themselves to their loved ones.

Yours Truly