Moser Baer has no plans for layoff

Optical storage device maker Moser Baer today said it has no plans to lay off workers following the current slowdown, which hit the company's bottom line last quarter.

"We are cutting costs further to the bare bones but we are not going in for layoffs," Moser Baer India Chairman and Managing Director Deepak Puri said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.

Currently, the company employs over 7,500 people.

With worldwide optical media prices falling, Moser Baer India posted a net loss for the second quarter ended September 30 at Rs 41.84 crore, whereas it had a net profit of Rs 3.27 crore for the same period last year.

When asked about the company's margins had come under pressure due to the global financial crisis he said: "We are still making cash profits in the optical media and photo voltaic business.... There is an issue today because of the worldwide optical media prices, which had fallen but they are increasing right now."

"With the current volatile situation today we are still trying to rework the investment.... In fact at one point, we thought we will put in all the investment together but now we are considering if this can be done on a step-wise basis," he said.

Moser Baer offers products and services such as optical storage media, photovoltaic cells like crystalline silicon cells and modules, entertainment and IT peripherals, and consumer electronics.

Earlier this year, the company had said that it will invest over Rs 2,000 crore in Tamil Nadu in setting up a facility to manufacture silicon-based photovoltaic thin film modules and allied products.

The plant will be operational by the middle of next year, he added.