Rating Rationale
August 17, 2020 | Mumbai
Agro Tech Foods Limited
Rating outlook revised to 'Stable'; ratings reaffirmed
 
Rating Action
Total Bank Loan Facilities Rated Rs.247 Crore
Long Term Rating CRISIL AA-/Stable (Outlook revised from 'Negative' and rating reaffirmed)
Short Term Rating CRISIL A1+ (Reaffirmed)
 
Rs.50 Crore Commercial Paper CRISIL A1+ (Reaffirmed)
1 crore = 10 million
Refer to annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities
Detailed Rationale

CRISIL has revised its rating outlook on the long-term bank facilities of Agro Tech Foods Limited (Agro Tech) to 'Stable' from 'Negative' and reaffirmed the rating at 'CRISIL AA-'; the rating on the short-term facilities and commercial paper has been reaffirmed at 'CRISIL A1+'.
 
The outlook revision follows a similar rating action by S&P Global Ratings on Agro Tech's parent entity, Conagra Brands Inc (Conagra). S&P Global Ratings has revised its rating outlook on Conagra to 'Stable' from 'Negative', while reaffirming the issuer credit rating at 'BBB-/A-3', as Conagra delivered better-than-expected performance in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020, and anticipates sustained operating performance backed by strong demand despite the pandemic.
 
Agro Tech's operating income grew by 1% year-on-year to Rs 835 crore during fiscal 2020. Income from the food business grew substantially by 15.3%, backed by strong growth in ACT II products (in the ready-to-eat snacks business), spreads and roll-out of new products such as cereals. During the first three months of fiscal 2021, operating income from the food business grew by 16% over the corresponding period of the previous fiscal; while operating margin increased to 10.4% from 7.4% was due to healthy growth of higher margin food products, especially in the ready-to-cook and spreads business. There were disruptions to the supply chain in the second half of March due to the lockdown and restrictions imposed by the government to tackle the spread of Covid-19. However, manufacturing of food products falls under the essentials supplies category and the company's performance has remained resilient despite the pandemic.
 
The ratings continue to reflect Agro Tech's established position in the branded edible oils market, growing contribution from the higher-margin foods business, support from Conagra, and strong financial risk profile. These strengths are partially offset by exposure to inherent risk pertaining to agro-based nature of product offerings, and modest profitability with bulk of sales derived from the competitive, low-margin edible oil business.

Analytical Approach

For arriving at its ratings, CRISIL has combined the business and financial risk profiles of Agro Tech and its subsidiaries. CRISIL has applied its parent notch-up framework to factor in the extent of support available to Agro Tech from parent, Conagra.

Please refer Annexure - List of entities consolidated, which captures the list of entities considered and their analytical treatment of consolidation.

Key Rating Drivers & Detailed Description
Strengths:
* Established position in the branded edible oils market, with continued growth in the food business: Agro Tech's established market position and improving revenue diversity will continue to support the business risk profile. Agro Tech's edible oil brand, Sundrop, has high recall, allowing it to enjoy a pricing premium. However, the company has been more focused on increasing the revenue share of its food business over the last 2-3 fiscals, driven by an expanding product portfolio. Operating income from the foods business grew 15.3% during fiscal 2020, over fiscal 2019, backed by strong growth in the ready-to-cook snacks and spreads business. Revenue share of the foods business increased to 32% in the first three months of fiscal 2021 vis-a-vis ~28% in fiscal 2020.

* Strong financial risk profile: Debt was minimal at Rs 4.7 crore as on March 31, 2020. The financial risk profile remains strong, marked by minimal debt (Rs 4.2 crore as of July 2020) and large networth, backed by steady cash accrual of over Rs 40 crore each over the last two fiscals. Accrual was Rs 46 crore in fiscal 2020, resulting in comfortable debt protection metrics: interest coverage ratio was more than 32 times during the period.

* Support from the parent: Access to Conagra's branded foods portfolio, including ACT II (popcorn), have helped Agro Tech to steadily improve its own branded foods portfolio in India. Continued focus on its ACT II product portfolio and steady addition of food products under the Sundrop brand have resulted in strong growth, with revenue contribution of the food business increasing to 32% currently from 22% in fiscal 2016.

Weaknesses:
* Exposure to risks associated with the agro-based nature of products: The edible oil business remains susceptible to risks pertaining to availability of oil, high regulations and pricing. Availability of oil, both in the domestic and international markets, is linked to oilseed production, which in turn remains vulnerable to factors such as monsoon, acreage under cultivation and yield. The edible oil and packaged food industries also face significant intervention from the government, given the commoditised nature of products. In order to ensure remunerative prices to farmers, the government fixes the minimum support price on oilseeds periodically. Moreover, it restricts any major hike in end-product prices as edible oil is an essential commodity, which has a bearing on the wholesale price index and inflation.

* Modest operating profitability, with larger proportion of sales in the intensely competitive edible oils business: Around 69% of the revenue was derived from the competitive edible oils business for fiscal 2020. Though the company commands a pricing premium on edible oils by virtue of its strong brand, profit margin is lower than that of integrated branded oil manufacturers. Operating margin will, over the medium term, remain sensitive to movements in commodity prices, flexibility to adjust pricing in the branded oils business, and level of sales promotion and advertising expenditure required to support the increasing scale of operations in the branded foods business.
Liquidity Strong

Liquidity is driven by cash equivalents of Rs 21 crore as on June 30, 2020, and healthy cash accrual of Rs 46 crore for fiscal 2020. Furthermore, fund-based limit of Rs 162 crore remained largely unutilised in the 12 months ended July 31, 2020. The company does not have major long-term debt obligation, with debt of only Rs 4.7 crore as on March 31, 2020. Capital expenditure (capex) is expected to remain moderate during fiscals 2020 and 2021, with yearly cash accrual of Rs 35-45 crore, and available cash equivalents should suffice to meet the capex requirement.

Outlook: Stable

CRISIL believes Agro Tech will continue to benefit over the medium term from its established brand, expanded product profile and steady operating margin. Financial risk profile is also expected to remain healthy, supported by no debt and strong liquidity.
 
Rating Sensitivity Factors
Upward Factors
* Improvement in the credit risk profile of Conagra, leading to upward revision in its rating by one or more notches
* Significant and sustained growth in revenue and operating margin
 
Downward Factors
* Material weakening of the credit risk profile of Conagra, leading to downward revision in its rating by S&P Global Ratings by one or more notches
* Sustained decline in operating margin and stagnant revenue, leading to lower cash accrual
* Any large, debt-funded capex or acquisition
 
About Agro Tech
Incorporated in 1986, Agro Tech has an established market position in the edible oils and branded foods business in India, and its primary brands are Sundrop, Crystal, and ACT II. Over the past few years, the company has diversified its portfolio to focus on high-margin, value-added products and reduce dependence on low-margin trading businesses. Agro Tech has strengthened its position in the branded foods market by introducing new products such as Sweet Corn, Extruded Breakfast Cereals, Granola Cereals and Chocolate confectionery.
 
About Conagra
With annual revenue of USD 11.05 billion (for fiscal 2020), Conagra is one of the leading food companies in North America. It held a majority stake of 51.77% in Agro Tech as on December 31, 2019.
 
For the three months ended June 30, 2020, Agro Tech reported an operating income of Rs 203 crore and profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 13 crore, against Rs 198 crore and Rs 7 crore, respectively, for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Key Financial Indicators
As on/for the period ended March 31 Unit 2020 2019
Revenue Rs.Crore 835 824
Profit After Tax (PAT) Rs.Crore 34 34
PAT Margin % 4.05 4.2
Adjusted debt/adjusted networth Times 0.01 0.00
Adjusted Interest coverage Times 32.56 388.53

Any other information: Not applicable

Note on complexity levels of the rated instrument:
CRISIL complexity levels are assigned to various types of financial instruments and are included (where applicable) in the Annexure -- Details of Instrument in this Rating Rationale. For more details on the CRISIL complexity levels, please visit www.crisil.com/complexity-levels.
Annexure - Details of Instrument(s)
ISIN Name of Instrument Date of Allotment Coupon Rate Maturity Date Issue Size (Rs.Cr) Complexity Level Rating Assigned with Outlook
NA Bank Guarantee NA NA NA 10.0 NA CRISIL A1+
NA Cash Credit* NA NA NA 80.0 NA CRISIL AA-/Stable
NA Cash Credit NA NA NA 5.0 NA CRISIL AA-/Stable
NA Letter of Credit NA NA NA 5.0 NA CRISIL A1+
NA Letter of credit & Bank Guarantee NA NA NA 25.0 NA CRISIL A1+
NA Working Capital Demand Loan NA NA NA 30.0 NA CRISIL AA-/Stable
NA Working Capital Loan# NA NA NA 42.0 NA CRISIL AA-/Stable
NA Standby Letter of Credit NA NA NA 5.0 NA CRISIL A1+
NA Term Loan NA NA Dec-24 4.7 NA CRISIL AA-/Stable
NA Proposed Long Term Bank Loan Facility NA NA NA 40.3 NA CRISIL AA-/Stable
NA Commercial Paper NA NA 7-365 Days 50 Simple CRISIL A1+
*Fully interchangeable between fund-based facility and non-fund based facility
#Interchangeable between working capital loan and cash credit
 
Annexure - List of Entities Consolidated
Names of entities consolidated Extent of consolidation Rationale for consolidation
Sundrop Foods India Pvt Ltd Fully consolidated Strong business and financial linkages
Agro Tech Foods (Bangladesh) Pvt Ltd Fully consolidated Strong business and financial linkages
Sundrop Foods Lanka Pvt Ltd Fully consolidated Strong business and financial linkages
Annexure - Rating History for last 3 Years
  Current 2020 (History) 2019  2018  2017  Start of 2017
Instrument Type Outstanding Amount Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Rating
Commercial Paper  ST  50.00  CRISIL A1+  02-03-20  CRISIL A1+  15-03-19  CRISIL A1+  29-03-18  CRISIL A1+  03-03-17  CRISIL A1+  CRISIL A1+ 
Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  202.00  CRISIL AA-/Stable  02-03-20  CRISIL AA-/Negative  15-03-19  CRISIL AA-/Stable  29-03-18  CRISIL AA-/Stable  03-03-17  CRISIL AA-/Stable  CRISIL A+/Stable 
Non Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  45.00  CRISIL A1+  02-03-20  CRISIL A1+  15-03-19  CRISIL A1+  29-03-18  CRISIL A1+  03-03-17  CRISIL A1+  CRISIL A1+ 
All amounts are in Rs.Cr.
Annexure - Details of various bank facilities
Current facilities Previous facilities
Facility Amount (Rs.Crore) Rating Facility Amount (Rs.Crore) Rating
Bank Guarantee 10 CRISIL A1+ Bank Guarantee 10 CRISIL A1+
Cash Credit* 80 CRISIL AA-/Stable Cash Credit* 80 CRISIL AA-/Negative
Cash Credit 5 CRISIL AA-/Stable Cash Credit 5 CRISIL AA-/Negative
Letter of Credit 5 CRISIL A1+ Letter of Credit 5 CRISIL A1+
Letter of credit & Bank Guarantee 25 CRISIL A1+ Letter of credit & Bank Guarantee 25 CRISIL A1+
Proposed Long Term Bank Loan Facility 40.3 CRISIL AA-/Stable Proposed Long Term Bank Loan Facility 40.3 CRISIL AA-/Negative
Standby Letter of Credit 5 CRISIL A1+ Standby Letter of Credit 5 CRISIL A1+
Term Loan 4.7 CRISIL AA-/Stable Term Loan 4.7 CRISIL AA-/Negative
Working Capital Demand Loan 30 CRISIL AA-/Stable Working Capital Demand Loan 30 CRISIL AA-/Negative
Working Capital Loan# 42 CRISIL AA-/Stable Working Capital Loan# 42 CRISIL AA-/Negative
Total 247 -- Total 247 --
*Fully interchangeable between fund-based facility and non-fund based facility
#Interchangeable between working capital loan and cash credit
Links to related criteria
CRISILs Approach to Financial Ratios
CRISILs Bank Loan Ratings - process, scale and default recognition
Rating criteria for manufaturing and service sector companies
Rating Criteria for Fast Moving Consumer Goods Industry
CRISILs Criteria for Consolidation
CRISILs Criteria for rating short term debt
Criteria for Notching up Stand Alone Ratings of Companies based on Parent Support
Mapping global scale ratings onto CRISIL scale

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