Opto Circuits drops 8% to a 44-month low on corporate governance, financial management concerns

MUMBAI: Shares of medical device maker Opto Circuits (India) plunged more than 8% to a 44-month low on Monday after the company informed BSE on Friday about the resignation of its company secretary, more than two months after his departure, renewing concerns over issues of corporate governance and financial management.

At Monday's level, the stock was down 57% from its 52-week high of 225.32 in February 2012. Opto Circuits has been struggling with mounting debt and problems in raising funds to service its liabilities. The company's outstanding debt has ballooned from 232 crore in fiscal year 2010 (Apr-Mar) to 899 crore in FY11 and 1,172 crore by FY12 as it went in for big-ticket acquisitions in the US, which have still not turned profitable.

The company has been seeking a rating of its credit line worth 538 crore after Icra suspended its call on the credit line for want of requisite information to assess the rating during its surveillance exercise.

Opto informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that it had appointed Crisil to rate its credit facility in August last year but has not informed the bourse that the mandate has been concluded after the agency's draft rating was rejected. Crisil on Monday told ET in an e-mail response that the rating agency "does not have any outstanding ratings on Opto Circuit."