Rating Rationale
March 02, 2020 | Mumbai
Agro Tech Foods Limited
Rating outlook revised to 'Negative'; ratings reaffirmed
 
Rating Action
Total Bank Loan Facilities Rated Rs.247 Crore
Long Term Rating CRISIL AA-/Negative (Outlook revised from 'Stable' 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 'Negative' from 'Stable', while reaffirming the ratings at 'CRISIL AA-/CRISIL A1+'.
 
The outlook revision follows a similar rating action by S&P Global Ratings (S&P) on Agro Tech's parent entity, Conagra Brands Inc. (Conagra). S&P has revised its outlook on Conagra to 'Negative' from 'Stable', while reaffirming the issuer credit rating at 'BBB-/A-3', as Conagra lowered its guidance for fiscal 2020, and anticipates weaker performance in the third quarter.
 
Operating income grew by 2% fiscal-on-fiscal to Rs 824 crore during fiscal 2019. Income from the food segment grew substantially by 14.4%, backed by strong growth in ACT II products (in the ready-to-eat snacks segment) and spreads. During the first nine months of fiscal 2020, operating income from the food segment grew by 14.6%, over the corresponding period of the previous year. Operating margin was in the range of 7.5-8.0% during fiscal 2019 and the first nine months of fiscal 2020.
 
Agro Tech's ratings continue to reflect its established position in the branded edible oils market, growing contribution from the higher-margin foods segment, support from Conagra, and strong financial risk profile. These strengths are partially offset by 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 segment.

Analytical Approach

For arriving at its rating, 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 food business segment: 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 a high recall among consumers, and allows the company to enjoy a pricing premium. However, the company has been more focused on increasing the revenue share of its food business segment, over the last 2-3 years, driven by an expanding product portfolio.
 
Operating income from the foods segment grew 14.4% during fiscal 2019, over fiscal 2018, backed by strong growth in ACT II products (in the ready-to-eat snacks segment) and spreads segments. For the first nine months of fiscal 2020, operating income from the food segment grew 14.6% over corresponding period of the previous year. Revenue share of the segment increased to 31% in the first nine months of fiscal 2020 vis-a-vis 27% in fiscal 2019.
 
* Strong financial risk profile: Agro Tech was a debt-free entity as on March 31, 2019. The financial risk profile remains strong, marked by minimal debt (Rs 4.7 crore as of December 2019) and large networth, backed by steady cash accrual of over Rs 40 crore each over the last two fiscals. Cash accrual of Rs 44 crore was reported for the first nine months of fiscal 2020, resulting in comfortable debt protection metrics, as represented by interest coverage of more than 35 times during the period.
 
* Support from the parent: Agro Tech receives business support from its parent, Conagra. Access to the parent's branded foods portfolio, including ACT II (popcorn), and assistance in launch of Sundrop peanut butter, has helped Agro Tech 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 segment increasing to 31% currently, from 22% in fiscal 2016.
 
Weaknesses:
* 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 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 highly competitive edible oils segment: Around 69% of revenue was derived from the highly competitive edible oils segment, for the nine months ending December 31, 2019. Though the company commands a pricing premium on edible oils by virtue of a 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 segment, and level of sales promotion and advertising expenditure required to support the increasing scale of operations in the branded foods segment.
Liquidity Strong

Liquidity remains strong, driven by cash equivalents of Rs 42 crore as on September 30, 2019, and healthy cash accrual of Rs 44 crore reported for the nine months ending December 31, 2019. Furthermore, fund-based limit of Rs 157 crore, remained largely unutilised in the 12 months ended December 31, 2019. The company does not have major long-term debt repayment obligations, with outstanding debt of only Rs 4.7 crore as on December 31, 2019.  Though capital expenditure (capex) is envisaged to increase moderately during fiscals 2020 and 2021, yearly cash accrual of Rs 45-55 crore, and available cash equivalents should suffice to meet the capex requirement.

Outlook: Negative

CRISIL believes support available to Agro Tech from parent, Conagra, may decline, in case of weaker-than-expected performance of the parent company.

Rating Sensitivity factors
Upward factors:
* Improvement in credit risk profile of Conagra, leading to upward revision in the rating by S&P, by one or more notches
* Significant and sustained growth in revenue and operating margin
 
Downward factors:
* Material weakening in credit risk profile of Conagra, leading to downward revision in the rating by S&P by one or more notches
* Sustained decline in operating margin, with stagnant revenue, leading to lower cash accrual
* Any large, debt funded capex, or acquisition

About Agro Tech:
Incorporated in 1986, Agro Tech Foods Ltd (Agro Tech) has an established market position in the edible oils and branded foods segment in India, and its primary brands are Sundrop, Crystal, and ACT II. Over the past few years, Agro Tech has diversified its product portfolio to focus on high-margin, value-added products and reduce dependence on low-margin trading businesses. The company has strengthened its position in the branded foods market by introducing new products such as peanut butter, and ready-to-eat food items, and the segment contributed about 31% of the revenue over the nine-months ended December 31, 2019.
 
About Conagra:
With annual revenue of USD 9.54 billion (for fiscal 2019), Conagra is one of the leading food companies in North America. It holds a majority stake of 51.77% in Agro Tech as on December 31, 2019.
 
For the nine months ended December 31, 2019, Agro Tech reported operating income of Rs 631 crore and profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 30 crore, against Rs 623 crore and Rs 26 crore, respectively, for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
Key Financial Indicators
As on / for the period ended March 31   2019 2018
Revenue Rs crore 824 811
Profit after tax Rs crore 34 32
PAT margin % 4.2 3.9
Adjusted debt/adjusted networth Times 0.00 0.00
Interest coverage Times 378.66 196.63

Any other information: Not applicable

Note on complexity levels of the rated instrument:
CRISIL complexity levels are assigned to various types of financial instruments. The CRISIL complexity levels are available on www.crisil.com/complexity-levels. Users are advised to refer to the CRISIL complexity levels for instruments that they consider for investment. Users may also call the Customer Service Helpdesk with queries on specific instruments.
Annexure - Details of Instrument(s)
ISIN Name of Instrument Date of
Allotment
Coupon
Rate (%)
Maturity
Date
Issue Size
(Rs. Cr.)
Rating Assigned
with Outlook
NA Bank Guarantee NA NA NA 10.0 CRISIL A1+
NA Cash Credit* NA NA NA 80.0 CRISIL AA-/Negative
NA Cash Credit NA NA NA 5.0 CRISIL AA-/Negative
NA Letter of Credit NA NA NA 5.0 CRISIL A1+
NA Letter of credit & Bank Guarantee NA NA NA 25.0 CRISIL A1+
NA Working Capital Demand Loan NA NA NA 30.0 CRISIL AA-/Negative
NA Working Capital Loan# NA NA NA 42.0 CRISIL AA-/Negative
NA Standby Letter of Credit NA NA NA 5.0 CRISIL A1+
NA Term Loan NA NA Dec-24 4.7 CRISIL AA-/Negative
NA Proposed Long Term
Bank Loan Facility
NA NA NA 40.3 CRISIL AA-/Negative
NA Commercial Paper NA NA 7-365 days 50 CRISIL A1+
* Fully interchangeable between funds based facility and non-fund based facility
# Inter-changeable 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+      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-/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+      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-/Negative Cash Credit* 80 CRISIL AA-/Stable
Cash Credit 5 CRISIL AA-/Negative Cash Credit 5 CRISIL AA-/Stable
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-/Negative Proposed Long Term Bank Loan Facility 15.3 CRISIL AA-/Stable
Standby Letter of Credit 5 CRISIL A1+ Standby Letter of Credit 5 CRISIL A1+
Term Loan 4.7 CRISIL AA-/Negative Term Loan 4.7 CRISIL AA-/Stable
Working Capital Demand Loan 30 CRISIL AA-/Negative Working Capital Demand Loan 55 CRISIL AA-/Stable
Working Capital Loan# 42 CRISIL AA-/Negative Working Capital Loan# 42 CRISIL AA-/Stable
Total 247 -- Total 247 --
* Fully interchangeable between funds based facility and non-fund based facility
# Inter-changeable 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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