Moser Baer net surges 65% to Rs 107 crore

Leading optical storage company Moser Baer on Tuesday reported a 65 per cent rise in net profit for the third quarter ended December 31, 2003 at Rs 107 crore against Rs 64.89 crore during the same period the previous year. The company's gross revenue increased by 69 per cent to Rs 503.96 crore in the third quarter over the same period a year ago.

The company has raised its net profit guidance for the fiscal 2004 to 45-50 per cent from the earlier 30-35 per cent while adding this guidance could be affected by substantial changes in currency movements, raw material costs and selling prices.

The company's earnings per share for the third quarter stood at Rs 11.10 against Rs 6.70 in the last financial year. The company said in a statement that the expansion of optical media capacity to 1.8 billion units per year has been completed during the quarter, 3 months ahead of schedule.

The company's shipment volumes during the third quarter grew sequentially by over 24 per cent, driven by faster implementation of the company's expansion plans, and strong demand from major customers. Sales of digital versatile disc (DVD) media grew by 154 per cent sequentially during the quarter.

DVD media sales now account for 18 per cent of the company's optical media revenues. "The robust performance in the third quarter is a result of the strong demand conditions prevailing in the industry for both CD & DVD formats and the fast ramp up of our capacities over the past few quarters," said Ratul Puri, executive director, Moser Baer India.

"With the substantial increase in DVD volumes, significant improvements were reported across the board in terms of yields, disc quality and production costs. With major customer acquisitions already in place, increased efficiencies and economies of scale are expected to enhance operating performance over the next few quarters," said P M Pai, president, Moser Baer India.

The company also said that it has entered into a technology license agreement with Hewlett-Packard to manufacture optical media using unique lightscribe technology.

The company also plans to increase the number of shares to be offered to the employees and directors to 4.4 million from earlier 2.2 million under its employee stock option plan, as a result of the 1:1 bonus offering of stock.