Margins unlikely to improve much this year: AP Chen, D-Link (India) Ltd

In an interview with ET Now, AP Chen, Chairman, D-Link (India) Ltd, shares his business outlook. Excerpts:

ET Now: Stepping into FY14, where do you see growth coming from? Is it the consumer segment or the enterprise segment?

AP Chen: Basically we see networking as one of the fastest-growing businesses both in the consumer sector and the commercial sector. So we see a lot of potential in both the segments.

ET Now: What kind of improvement are you working towards for FY14 and what will that be contingent on?

AP Chen: The margin this year will probably not improve in a significant way. As you probably know last year we launched our cloud project in a big way. All the devices we manufacture and sell have a code embedded inside and then are linked to the cloud. With this a lot of investments were made in the past and will also be made in the future. So until we have reached a certain level of investment, I do not think the margin will improve significantly.

ET Now: The more important question really is that D-Link India’s parent company which holds around odd 60% is looking to de-list the Indian arm. Can you confirm this for us?

AP Chen: Absolutely not. So far we are happy where we are. We are listed in India. As a matter of fact we have a big heart for India. It is very long term. I think staying in the public security market is through the best interest so far.