Rating Rationale
November 14, 2017 | Mumbai
Amara Raja Batteries Limited
Ratings Reaffirmed
 
Rating Action
Total Bank Loan Facilities Rated Rs.125 Crore
Long Term Rating CRISIL AA+/Stable (Reaffirmed)
Short Term Rating CRISIL A1+ (Reaffirmed)
1 crore = 10 million
Refer to annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities
Detailed Rationale

CRISIL has reaffirmed its ratings on the bank facilities of Amara Raja Batteries Limited (ARBL) at 'CRISIL AA+/Stable/CRISIL A1+'.
 
The ratings continue to reflect the diverse revenue streams and product portfolio, strong technical support from its collaborator and co-promoter, Johnson Controls International Plc (JCI; rated 'BBB+/Stable/A-2' by S&P Global), and established distribution network. The ratings also factors in healthy financial risk profile, marked by strong capital structure and debt protection metrics. These rating strengths are partially offset by exposure to intense competition in the domestic storage batteries segment, especially in the automotive aftermarket and telecommunications (telecom) battery sub-segments and logistical disadvantages with entire operations consolidated in Andhra Pradesh whiles its consumers are spread across India.

Key Rating Drivers & Detailed Description
Strengths
* Healthy presence in domestic storage batteries segment: Business risk profile is supported by its healthy presence in the domestic storage battery market; ARBL is the largest player in this segment after Exide Industries Ltd (Exide). The company has a large distribution network, which, along with the increasing presence of its Amaron brand and the high quality of its products, has strengthened its market position despite its late entry; this is reflected in the steady improvement in ARBL's market share in recent years. The aforesaid strengths, supported by steady capacity additions, led to a compounded annual growth (CAGR) of 17% in ARBL's revenue between fiscals 2012 and 2017.

* Diverse revenue streams, supported by established relationship with clients: ARBL's increasing market presence in the domestic battery segment is also a result of its diversified presence across the industrial and auto segments. Furthermore, no single sub-segment contributes more than 25% to its revenues and dependence on single customer for revenue within these segments is also limited. The company's diversified presence thus renders its business risk profile less vulnerable to downturns in the domestic auto OEM and industrial sectors.
 
* Strong technical support from co-promoter and collaborator, JCI: ARBL benefits from the technical support provided for the manufacture of auto storage batteries by JCI, the leading manufacturer of lead-acid auto batteries in North America and Europe. ARBL has an in-house research and development department, which employs state-of-the-art testing and development systems and works with JCI's engineers to develop products for the domestic and export markets. In addition, ARBL has also modernised and upgraded its facilities with JCI's support. JCI helps ARBL obtain orders from overseas OEMs that have set up base in India. These multinational auto OEMs source their requirements from JCI and its associates globally.
 
* Strong financial risk profile: ARBL's financial risk profile is healthy with negligible debt and healthy profitability resulting in favourable debt protection indicators, healthy return on capital employed (RoCE), and comfortable net worth and gearing. Despite high capex intensity with annual capex of about Rs 500 crore per annum, ARBL continues to fund the same entirely through accruals and cash surplus resulting in gearing less than 0.05 times as on March 2017. Debt protection metrics remain strong supported by healthy profitability.
 
Weakness
* Logistical disadvantages arising from geographical concentration in operations: ARBL currently operates from a single location in Karakambadi, restricting distribution logistics. The single-location facility also exposes the company to risks relating to geographical concentration of operations, such as natural calamities. Nevertheless, ARBL's single facility does offer benefits in the form of economies of scale because of its large size. The plant is completely integrated with all critical components, including plastics, sourced in-house.
 
* Exposure to intense competition in some battery segments: The telecom segment, which accounted for 25% of ARBL's revenue during fiscal 2017, has been going through a rough phase with the entry of Jio disrupting the market and forcing the telecom operators/ infrastructure players exerting pressure on vendors to reduce prices.  Competition is intensifying in the auto aftermarket battery segment and small-to-mid sized organised players (hitherto operating only in the industrial segment and now increasing focus on the auto segment) offering products at extremely competitive prices. Nevertheless, ARBL has performed better than its peers, largely because of its diversified revenue streams and product quality.
Outlook: Stable

CRISIL believes that ARBL will continue to benefit from its established market position, its improving revenue and customer diversity, and capacity expansions in the automotive segment. This, coupled with prudent funding of its capital expenditure (capex), will aid sustenance of strong credit metrics over the medium term. The rating outlook may be revised to 'Positive' if ARBL registers substantial improvement in its market share in the storage battery industry while maintaining its profitability at healthy levels and significantly strengthens its liquidity by improving the cash surplus available for exigencies. Conversely, the outlook may be revised to 'Negative' if the company reports lower-than-expected revenue growth on sustained basis due to delays in ramping up utilization at its new production facilities, or if there is significant decline in its operating profitability or higher-than-expected debt-funded capex or acquisition, adversely impacting its key credit metrics.

About the Company

ARBL, promoted by Mr. Ramachandra Galla in 1985, initially manufactured standby valve-regulated lead acid (VRLA) batteries at its unit in Karakambadi (Andhra Pradesh). In 1998, JCI acquired 23 per cent in the company and, in 1999-2000 (refers to financial year, April 1 to March 31), ARBL diversified into the manufacture of automotive batteries. Currently, the Galla family and JCI own 26 per cent stake each in the company while the remainder is held by financial institutions (27 per cent), corporate bodies, the public, non-resident Indians and others (21 per cent). 
 
ARBL's revenue registered a compound annual growth rate of 22% between fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2016, outperforming growth rates registered by its peers. The company has two main strategic business units: the industrial battery division (contributing to 43% of its total revenue in fiscal 2016) and the automobile battery division (57%, including inverter batteries).
 
ARBL had capacity to manufacture 9.0 million four-wheeler batteries, 12.1 million two-wheeler batteries and 2.1 billion VRLA batteries per annum as on March 31, 2016. The company is planning to enhance its four-wheeler battery capacity to 12.0 million and two-wheeler battery capacity to 25.0 million units.

For the first half of fiscal 2018, PAT was Rs 227 crore on operating income of Rs 2,925 crore against a profit of Rs 267 crore on operating income of Rs. 2,666 Cr during the previous corresponding period.

Key Financial Indicators
Particulars Unit 2017 2016
Revenue Rs crore 5314 4679
Profit after tax (PAT) Rs crore 473 489
PAT margins % 8.9 10.4
Adjusted debt/Adjusted networth Times 0.03 0.04
Interest coverage Times 7.96 7.32

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 85.0 CRISIL AA+/Stable
NA Cash Credit* NA NA NA 30.0 CRISIL AA+/Stable
NA Letter of Credit^ NA NA NA 5.0 CRISIL A1+
NA Proposed short-term bank loan facility NA NA NA 5.0 CRISIL A1+
*Interchangeable with working capital demand loan and export credit.
^Fully interchangeable with each other.
Annexure - Rating History for last 3 Years
  Current 2017 (History) 2016  2015  2014  Start of 2014
Instrument Type Quantum Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Rating
Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  35  CRISIL AA+/Stable/ CRISIL A1+    No Rating Change    No Rating Change  10-06-15  CRISIL AA+/Stable/ CRISIL A1+    No Rating Change  CRISIL AA+/Stable 
Non Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  90  CRISIL AA+/Stable/ CRISIL A1+    No Rating Change    No Rating Change    No Rating Change  11-11-14  CRISIL AA+/Stable/ CRISIL A1+  CRISIL A1+ 
Table reflects instances where rating is changed or freshly assigned. 'No Rating Change' implies that there was no rating change under the release.
Annexure - Details of various bank facilities
Current facilities Previous facilities
Facility Amount (Rs.Crore) Rating Facility Amount (Rs.Crore) Rating
Bank Guarantee^ 85 CRISIL AA+/Stable Bank Guarantee^ 85 CRISIL AA+/Stable
Cash Credit* 30 CRISIL AA+/Stable Cash Credit* 30 CRISIL AA+/Stable
Letter of Credit^ 5 CRISIL A1+ Letter of Credit^ 5 CRISIL A1+
Proposed Short Term Bank Loan Facility 5 CRISIL A1+ Proposed Short Term Bank Loan Facility 5 CRISIL A1+
Total 125 -- Total 125 --
*Interchangeable with working capital demand loan and export credit.
 ^Fully interchangeable with each other.
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 Auto Component Suppliers
CRISILs Criteria for rating short term debt

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