CRISIL, a Standard & Poors company, has downgraded its ratings on the bank facilities of Moser Baer India Limited (MBIL) from ‘BBB-/Negative/P3’ to ‘BB+/Negative/P4+’.

According to a CRISIL statement, the rating downgrade “reflects continuing losses at MBIL because of pricing pressures in its optical storage media business, and CRISIL’s belief that MBIL’s photo voltaic (PV) business will take longer than previously estimated to attain break-even because of the ongoing downturn in the industry. CRISIL also believes that MBIL’s cash surpluses will deplete faster than earlier expected, and the company may have to refinance part of its large upcoming debt obligations. These rating weaknesses are partially offset by MBIL’s leading position as a global supplier of optical storage media and healthy long-term prospects for the PV business”.

As a matter of background, Moser Baer is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of writable CDs, DVDs and BDs, with various subsidiaries involved in photo voltaic (PV), home entertainment, consumer electronics and computer peripheral businesses.

For more information visit: www.crisil.com