LISI ANNUAL REPORT 2009
Letter from
the management
Stay the course
— 2009: Cyclical contrasts between
divisions of the LISI Group
The effects of the economic crisis that has affected
the principal business sectors of the LISI Group in the
last months of 2008 continued throughout the 2009
fiscal year. Their amplitudes and rates of change were
nevertheless independent of each other.
The retreat in air traffic volumes starting in mid-2008
went on through autumn 2009. Both Airbus and
Boeing, thanks to their healthy order sheets, decided
to maintain a high level of deliveries throughout the
year; conversely, the entire aerospace supply chain
considerably slowed its business activities in order to
reduce vast inventories based on previous forecasts
that were decidedly more optimistic.
These two opposing tendencies added up in the LISI
AEROSPACE division to a pair of divergent trends:
nearly stable business levels throughout the first two
quarters, followed by a significant 28% slide in sales in
the third and fourth.
In the automotive sector, as a result of weak orders and
a very short logistical chain, was also impacted right
away in the autumn of 2008 by the global crisis, and
immediately slowed productions to extremely low
levels.
LISI AUTOMOTIVE therefore saw its sales drop off right
from the start of the year with a 38% decrease in the 1
st
quarter of 2009, an unprecedented steep drop; later, as
a result of «breakneck liquidity and stimulus measures»
progressively instituted by the developed economies,
the bottom line actually rebounded, achieving a
growth rate of nearly 20% by the final quarter.
In the area of Fragrances and Cosmetics, business was
dramatically weaker throughout the year, under the
double weight of excess inventory and product launch
postponements.
Our executive priority will remain focused
on cash flow management
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