Moser Baer net loss widens to Rs 141 cr

Compact disk maker Moser Baer India's Ltd (MBIL) standalone net loss has widened to Rs 141.19 crore for the quarter ended December due to foreign exchange loss and subdued sale of high-margin products.

The New Delhi-based optical storage manufacturer had posted a net loss of Rs 95.91 crore in the year-ago period.

"The loss widened mainly due to an exceptional unrealised loss of Rs 19.3 crore, which pertains to short term exchange impact on account of long term foreign currency liabilities," MBIL Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Yogesh Mathur told PTI.

Besides, the company also faced an adverse product mix with lower sales of high-margin products, he added.

MBIL's net sales fell by almost 43% to Rs 309.89 crore in the October-December quarter this fiscal, compared to Rs 541.29 crore in the same quarter of the 2011-12 fiscal.

Mathur said the growth has also been "strategically muted" as MBIL is awaiting incremental liquidity that will help the company drive growth in advanced formats and solid state media products.

"Definitive documents are being executed with banks, thus crystallising our debt restructuring package and we are proceeding towards implementation. This will provide necessary liquidity to support our business priorities," he added.

On storage media's growth prospects, MBIL CEO (Storage Media) Bhaskar Sharma said the company is confident of consolidating its position, increasing market share and volume with improved liquidity.

"Also, stable raw material prices will allow us to protect our margins," he added.

Optical storage media (CDs and DVDs) account for about two-third of the total revenues of the company. It has clients in Western Europe, Japan and the US, while its presence is growing in India and Latin America.

Photo voltaic (PV) vertical, which contributes 15-20% of the revenues, is also showing "healthy growth prospects".

 "Solar PV business is likely to show rapid signs of growth in the next three years due to announcements by JNNSM and the state government projects totalling to over 8,000 mega watt (MW)," Moser Baer PV Systems CEO K N Subramaniam said.

This augurs well for systems business, which is shaping up to deliver projects both in solar farms and rooftop installations, he said.  

"With systems costs falling sharply due to modules and improved engineering with focus on cost reduction, solarising India in the next few years is becoming a certainty," Mathur said, adding that while Japan is a major market for PV solutions, demand in India is also gaining strong traction.