Moser Baer did one step even better than analysts' expectations through its quarterly performance and that provided the scrip with the fuel to recover from the low.

The scrip of the world's third largest recordable compact discs maker gained by 2.17% to Rs 283. It recorded over 348,000 shares on BSE by 13:40 IST.

Between 15 and 22 April 2003, the stock rose 12.6% to Rs 277 from Rs 245.95 on expectations that the company would record exciting results.

Afternoon on Wednesday recorded its fourth as well as full year results. For Q4 ended 31 March 2003, the company recorded a 38% rise in net profit to Rs 84.98 crore on an 81% increase in total income to Rs 360.76 crore (Rs 3.6 billion).

The 38% rise in net profit has soundly beaten analysts' expectations of a net profit in the range of Rs 67-70 crore.

For FY 2002-03, the company posted a 13.7% increase in net profit to Rs 245.30 crore (Rs 2.45 billion) on a 58% rise in total income of Rs 1,096.8 crore (Rs 10.96 billion).

Earlier, the company announced that it was increasing prices of CDRs by 5-10% following a global shortage in the product. The rise in prices is expected to have a positive impact on the financials of the company for the next quarter.

Moser Baer has been proxy to a host of positive developments since early January 2003 when the European Commission decided to terminate anti-dumping proceedings against the company with respect to the manufacture of CDRs. Recordable compact discs are data storage devices with multiple uses. They can be used to create computer back-up files of vital information, to store downloaded music from the Internet or to copy pirated software.

Recently, MBIL announced two separate deals with Imation Corp, expected to boost the company's revenues by $100 million annually. MBIL signed a strategic long-term sourcing deal with Imation Corp., one of the largest data storage media companies in the world, to provide high quality optical media solutions.

In another significant development, both the companies have entered into a strategic joint venture in which 51% of the equity will be held by Imation Corp. The JV, entailing a total investment of US$10 million (Rs 48 crore), will focus on customer servicing, long-term technology transfer and joint R & D.

Both these developments could result in incremental revenues of approximately US$100 million (Rs 480 crore) per annum for MBIL, catapulting it into a global leadership position in the optical storage media industry, MBIL said.

The Imation deal makes for increasing presence of MBIL in the US markets. MBIL has been eyeing an increasing share in the US market. Currently, it derives major revenues from European markets.

MBIL got a big boost early this year after the European Commission decided to drop anti-dumping duty proceedings with respect to recordable compact disks. MBIL has a major exposure to Europe, exporting 45-50% of its products there.

Late January 2003, MBIL said it was considering a price hike for products in Q4 ending 31 March 2003 following the improving market dynamics and favourable outcome of the anti-dumping investigations. So far, the company's performance in the current fiscal has been affected by pressure on profit margins, which, in turn, has been due to a fall in product prices.

As on 31 March 2003, promoters held 20.04% stake in the company, while public and institutions held 9.39% and 18.95%, respectively.