Keeping the faith

His company may be going through tough times but Moser Baer founder Deepak Puri is far from throwing in the towel. Recently, the chairman of the world’s second-largest optical storage media manufacturer infused fresh capital via a preferential allotment of 10 million shares. This latest infusion is the final tranche of the ₹ 40 crore that Puri was asked to bring in by his lenders as part of the CDR programme. The first tranche of ₹ 20 crore for 20 million shares came in May, 2013 and the second was ₹ 10 crore for 10 million shares in November, 2013. Puri’s persisting belief is despite the company’s continuing troubles. For the 9-month ended FY14, the company posted a consolidated loss of nearly ₹ 695 crore on revenue of ₹ 1,14 crore. Finance costs of nearly ₹ 320 crore continue to bleed the company. The debt overhang is considerable and even the standalone interest expense of ₹ 62 crore is nearly equal to the company’s total market cap of ₹ 64 crore. A one-time stock market darling, poor investor sentiment now plagues the stock. While every institutional investor has fled, Puri’s latest infusion has increased the promoter stake to nearly 33%.