Rating Rationale
May 20, 2020 | Mumbai
Amara Raja Infra Private Limited
Rating outlook revised to 'Stable'; ratings reaffirmed
 
Rating Action
Total Bank Loan Facilities Rated Rs.240 Crore
Long Term Rating CRISIL BBB+/Stable (Outlook revised from 'Negative' and rating reaffirmed)
Short Term Rating CRISIL A2 (Reaffirmed)
1 crore = 10 million
Refer to annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities
Detailed Rationale

CRISIL has revised its outlook on the long-term bank facilities of Amara Raja Infra Private Limited (ARIPL) to 'Stable' from 'Negative' and reaffirmed the rating at 'CRISIL BBB+'. The rating on the short-term bank facility has been reaffirmed at 'CRISIL A2'.
 
The revision in outlook is on account of the change in ARIPL stance towards the hospital project. ARIPL was involved in the construction of a 200 bedded multi-specialty hospital near Tirupati. While the hospital was expected to add to company's revenue, profitability was expected to be impacted on account of the initial gestation losses. Additionally, given that the project was partially debt funded, company's financial risk profile was expected to be impacted. In fiscal 2020 however company has given the hospital building/equipment on lease to another group entity (G2 Healthcare Pvt Ltd). ARIPL will receive lease rental of Rs 3 crore per annum from the hospital business. Gestation losses will not be booked by ARIPL, thus benefitting profitability. Additionally, debt intake for the project has been lower than earlier expected, further benefitting capital structure and financial risk profile of the company.
 
ARIPL's performance is expected to remain subdued in fiscal 2021 considering the weak demand outlook, including due to the coronavirus pandemic. While the lockdown is expected to be temporary, revocation of the measures will be contingent upon directive from the Central government and extent of spread of coronavirus. A sustained long period of lockdown can result in significant deterioration in credit quality of the company. On the other hand, a faster reversal to normalcy may contain the extent of deterioration in credit quality. That said, the ability of ARIPL to quickly revert back to operational stability will be a key monitorable.
 
Company however, has adequate cushion in its balance sheet and liquidity to absorb the anticipated slowdown in demand in the near term. Company has sanctioned bank limits of Rs. 33 crore of which only Rs. 10 crore is utilised. Further, receivables of around Rs. 50 crore is expected to be collected in the next 1-2 months. These should be adequate to fund fixed expenses of Rs. 4-5 crore per month. Company is also availing principal moratorium on its term loan to conserve cash. CRISIL draws additional comfort from the expected financial support from the promoters in the event of any exigencies to tide over the situation.
 
The ratings continue to reflect steady improvement ARIPL's consolidated order book with increasing share of external customers and backed by steady orders from companies in the Amara Raja group, and healthy operating profitability from civil construction business and facility management services. The ratings also factor in an adequate financial risk profile. These rating strengths are partially offset by limited, though improving, customer and geographical diversity in revenue profile, and susceptibility of margins to intense competition in the civil construction industry and ability to manage profitability while executing large corporate projects.

Analytical Approach

For arriving at its rating, CRISIL has considered the standalone business and financial risk profiles of ARIPL.

Key Rating Drivers & Detailed Description
Strengths
* Healthy order book from external customers, supported by orders from group companies
ARIPL has a healthy order flow from the Amara Raja group companies and there is steady and considerable increase in orders from external customers over the past two years. Currently, the order book stands at about Rs 700 crore of which Rs 330 crore is expected to be executed over the next 12 months. A major portion of the order book is from external customers which improves revenue diversity and reduced dependence on group companies. ARIPL is also involved in bidding for large corporate projects, upon materializing, will further expand the order book in the medium term.

* Moderate credit risk profile
ARIPL's moderate credit risk profile is marked by moderate net worth and adequate debt protection metrics. The nature of the construction services business is working capital intensive which determines the higher level of borrowings. ARIPL's working capital management has witnessed a marked improvement with timely debtor collection procedures in place; while the customer advances of 10% to 15% for each order has further strengthened its cash flows, thereby ensuring minimal dependence on debt to fund its operations.

Weakness
* Small scale of operations, with limited diversity in terms of customers and geography
As of fiscal 2019, ARIPL has derived about 60% of its revenue from projects executed for companies in the Amara Raja group, thus making it susceptible to risks of any drop in order flow from group companies. The company's track record in executing projects outside the group has remained limited but has improved to (40%) to revenues in fiscal 2019. ARIPL has been leveraging the group's experience to win larger contracts from external customers, along with orders from repeat customers. As share of orders from external customers (especially large corporate orders) is expected to increase in the medium term, ARIPL's ability to maintain its currently favourable margins and to manage its working capital efficiently will remain a challenge and key rating sensitivity factor.

* Susceptibility to intense competition in civil construction industry
ARIPL is a relatively small player in the highly competitive and fragmented civil construction industry. The high degree of fragmentation can be attributed to low entry barriers, marked by the low capital intensity in this business. While large established players operate in several segments, smaller players, including ARIPL, focus on one or two specific segments where ticket size of orders is small and restricts opportunities to scale-up rapidly. The presence of a large number of small players also restricts pricing flexibility for players such as ARIPL, resulting in pressure on its margins.
Liquidity Adequate

ARIPL has adequate liquidity with access to unutilised bank lines of Rs 22 crore and liquid surplus of around Rs. 10 crore which should be sufficient to fund monthly fixed expenses of around Rs 4-5 crore. Company is also availing principal moratorium on its term loan to conserve cash. Cash accruals are expected to gradually improve to Rs 30 crore annually post normalisation of operations. Further, financial support from the promoters will be forthcoming in the event of any exigencies.

ARIPL's working capital requirements is expected to increase over the medium term with the company looking to scale up its operations and increasingly bid for external projects. However, favourable terms negotiated with both group companies and external customer projects, customer advances and healthy operational cash flows will ensure reduced dependence on debt for funding.

Outlook: Stable

CRISIL expects ARIPL's operating performance to remain impacted in the near term considering the weak demand outlook, including due to the coronavirus pandemic. While near term business pressures will persist, an improvement in cash accrual post normalization of operations and moderate capex without sizeable additional debt should help sustain the adequate financial risk profile and liquidity over the medium term.

Rating Sensitivity Factors
Upward Factors
* Sustained improvement in operating profit before depreciation interest and tax (OPBDIT) margins above 12% resulting in higher than expected cash accrual over the medium term
* Sustained order flow from external customers and its timely and profitable execution

Downward Factors
* Delays in project execution or potential cost over runs most likely due to further deterioration in business conditions including due to prolonged lockdown, leading to decline in operating performance (OPBDIT below 8%)
* Large debt-funded capex programme, leading to deterioration in its financial risk profile (e.g. gearing above 1.0 times)
* Increase in working capital requirement leading to gross current assets (GCA) days greater than 200 days.

About the Company

ARIPL, part of the Amara Raja group, was incorporated in 2008. The company provides civil, mechanical, and electrical construction services primarily for the industrial segment. Since its inception, ARIPL has been catering to the construction requirements for the expansion plans at other Amara Raja group companies. The company also started to execute projects for external customer since 2015 in a small way. As of fiscal 2019, ARIPL's order book has at about 60% exposure to internal Projects and 40% to external customers. ARIPL in FY 2018 has started executing medium - scale residential projects for external customers in Tirupati.
 
The Amara Raja Group, established in 1985, is promoted by Mr Ramachandra Galla and his family members, who own 100% of the equity capital in ARIPL. The group comprises eight companies, including the flagship Amara Raja Batteries Ltd (rated 'CRISIL AA+/Stable/CRISIL A1+'), the second-largest player in the storage batteries segment in India. All the group companies are established and operated from Tirupati, Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.

Key Financial Indicators
As on/for the period ended March 31 Unit  2019 2018
Revenue Rs.Crore 362 269
PAT Rs.Crore 28 17
PAT margin % 7.7 6.5
Adjusted debt/adjusted networth Times 0.18 NA
Interest coverage Times 28.48 NM*
*NM - Not meaningful as the ratio is a very high figure

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 Letter of Credit & Bank Guarantee** NA NA NA 87.5 CRISIL A2
NA Cash Credit NA NA NA 32.5 CRISIL BBB+/Stable
NA Term Loan NA NA Mar-2024 60.0 CRISIL BBB+/Stable
NA Proposed Long Term Bank Loan Facility NA NA NA 60.0 CRISIL BBB+/Stable
**100% interchangeability between LC & BG limits
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
Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  152.50  CRISIL BBB+/Stable      24-12-19  CRISIL BBB+/Negative  31-07-18  CRISIL BBB+/Stable  17-04-17  CRISIL BBB/Stable  CRISIL BBB/Stable 
            06-12-19  CRISIL BBB+/Negative           
            31-10-19  CRISIL BBB+/Negative           
Non Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  87.50  CRISIL A2      24-12-19  CRISIL A2  31-07-18  CRISIL A2  17-04-17  CRISIL A3+  CRISIL A3+ 
            06-12-19  CRISIL A2           
            31-10-19  CRISIL A2           
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
Cash Credit 32.5 CRISIL BBB+/Stable Cash Credit 32.5 CRISIL BBB+/Negative
Letter of credit & Bank Guarantee** 87.5 CRISIL A2 Letter of credit & Bank Guarantee** 87.5 CRISIL A2
Proposed Long Term Bank Loan Facility 60 CRISIL BBB+/Stable Proposed Long Term Bank Loan Facility 60 CRISIL BBB+/Negative
Term Loan 60 CRISIL BBB+/Stable Term Loan 60 CRISIL BBB+/Negative
Total 240 -- Total 240 --
^100% interchangeability between LC & BG limits
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 Construction Industry
CRISILs Criteria for rating short term debt

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