Rating Rationale
August 22, 2019 | Mumbai
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited
Rating outlook revised to 'Negative'; ratings reaffirmed
 
Rating Action
Total Bank Loan Facilities Rated Rs.60000 Crore
Long Term Rating CRISIL AA+/Negative (Outlook revised from 'Stable' and rating reaffirmed)
Short Term Rating CRISIL A1+ (Reaffirmed)
1 crore = 10 million
Refer to annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities
Detailed Rationale

CRISIL has revised the outlook on the long term bank facilities of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) to 'Negative' from 'Stable' while reaffirmed the rating at 'CRISIL AA+'. The rating on the short term bank facilities have been reaffirmed at 'CRISIL A1+'.
 
The revision in outlook reflects the weak operating performance and the continued increase in working capital intensity during the fiscal 2019 and the first quarter of fiscal 2020. BHEL reported an operating loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of Rs 267 crore during the first quarter of fiscal 2020 (as against an operating profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of Rs 287 crore during the corresponding quarter previous year). Operating performance was impacted due to lower execution of orders. Operating profitability is likely to remain subdued due to highly competitive bidding over the past few years. Further, overcapacity in the sector may lead to additional pricing pressure in upcoming bids.
 
Working capital intensity has increased in fiscal 2019, with increase in the debtor and inventory days by 37 days combined. Debtors remain high at Rs 37,851 crore as on June 30, 2019 (Rs 35,493 crore as on March 31, 2018). Higher working capital intensity has led to depletion of cash reserves to Rs 7,632 crores as on March 31, 2019 (Rs 11,409 crore as on March 31, 2018). Further, BHEL's short term debt increased to Rs 2,457 crore as on March 31, 2019 (vis-a-vis nil debt as on March 31, 2018). CRISIL believes cash levels are unlikely to increase to earlier levels over the medium term. Further, working capital intensity and liquidity position will be key monitorables.
 
However, BHEL's market position in the power generation and electrical equipment segment continues to remain strong. BHEL has a healthy order book of Rs.1,07,806 crore as of June 2019, out of which around 80% is executable. This is supported by favorably placed bid position in orders worth more than Rs. 20,000 crore. CRISIL expects addition in thermal power capacity by the central and state PSUs over the next 5 years is expected to sustain order book considering the strong market position of BHEL in the power BTG segment. Order book is additionally supported by improved order prospects in the diversified business areas like transportation, defense and emission control.
 
The ratings continue to reflect BHEL's leading position in the power generation and electrical equipment markets, healthy order inflows and outstanding order book and strong financial risk profile. These strengths are partially offset by structural issues in the sector which contributes over 80% to revenues, sizeable working capital requirements due to substantial receivables and exposure to intense competition.

Analytical Approach

For arriving at the ratings, CRISIL has consolidated its Joint venture Raichur Power Corporation Ltd (RPCL) on a moderate consolidation basis and has not consolidated any other subsidiary or joint venture. This is because BHEL enters into JV with state governments to obtain the EPC contract of power project on nomination basis. Management has indicated that they do not extend financial support to these JVs and also have a clause for potential exit once the projects are completed. For RPCL, further equity infusion may be required to support the project.  CRISIL has considered net provisions for arriving at the operating profit before depreciation, interest and taxes. 

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
* Leading position in the power generation and electrical equipment markets: BHEL is the leading player in India's power and industrial electrical equipment markets which accounts for 53% of the country's installed capacity of conventional power projects. Cost competitiveness and superior execution capabilities support its dominant market presence and it is well poised to benefit from structural recovery in the power sector. However, given the ongoing challenges in operating environment, timely execution of orders will be critical over the medium term.

* Healthy order inflows and outstanding order book: A healthy order book (Rs.1,07,806 crores as of June 2019 with ~80% of the orders being executable) and market position provide strong revenue visibility for the medium term. Order inflow during fiscal 2019 was Rs. 23,859 crore primarily driven by power segment orders. Some of the large projects are 1x660 MW Supercritical Power Plant in Uttar Pradesh, 660 mw supercritical thermal power plant in West Bengal etc. BHEL also aims to get business through replacement demand, transportation sector, emission control, transmission and rural electrification amongst others. CRISIL believes that order inflows and profitability trends will be key monitorables.

* Strong financial risk profile: Financial risk profile is comfortable, backed by strong net worth, minimal debt and robust liquidity. Financial flexibility also benefits from status as a 'Maharatna' public sector undertaking. Liquidity is sufficient to fund working capital and capex requirements in the near-to-medium term, supported by the cash pile and unutilised bank lines.

Weaknesses
* Business skewed towards the power sector exposing it to the structural issues in the sector: Power segment has traditionally contributed 70% - 80% to the revenue of BHEL and BHEL's profitability is susceptible to structural issues and volatility in the power segment, including excess capacity leading to limited expected capacity additions, delays in land acquisition, obtaining environmental clearances, ensuring fuel availability, and funding challenges. Over the past several years, the structural issues resulted in a slowdown in BHEL's project execution for some of the projects. However, it has improved with clearance to various major projects but the operating profitability is expected to remain constrained at similar levels. Although, BHEL has been focusing on diversifying its revenue profile by expanding into segments such as transportation, transmission, renewable, emission control and defence over the past few years, however, the power sector is still expected to remain the key revenue driver in the medium term.

* Sizeable working capital requirements due to substantial receivables: Company has sizeable receivables increasing the working capital intensity. Moreover, the risk of doubtful debtors is offset by BHEL's provisions policy and reduction in the percentage of private players. Nevertheless, ability to reduce debtor days over the medium term will constitute a key rating sensitivity factor.

* Exposure to intense competition: BHEL operates in an increasingly competitive market scenario as several domestic companies entered the BTG space through strategic JVs with international players increasing the industry capacity to over 30 GW with limited expected power plant capacity additions planned over the medium term. BHEL has remained competitive by its significant presence in the super critical technology based thermal power business through collaborative approach, capability enhancement and accelerated project delivery. Few large orders in the last 24 months has seen aggressive bidding. Competition among supercritical equipment manufacturers will keep the pricing and profitability sensitive.
Liquidity

Liquidity is robust driven by net cash and cash equivalents of Rs. 5,175 crore during March 2019 and low average fund based bank limit utilization of ~ 10% (last 12 months) through May-2019. Company has low long term debt and the expected cash accruals during fiscal 2020 will be sufficient in servicing the debt obligations and meeting the incremental working capital requirements.

Outlook: Negative

CRISIL believes BHEL's working capital will remain stretched over medium term on account of high receivables and increased execution requirements.

Upward Scenario
* Reduction in the working capital intensity through higher recovery from debtors.
* Improvement in the operating profitability through higher than expected order execution and efficient raw material consumption and cost control

Downgrade Scenario
* Continued high working capital intensity leading to further reduction in the net cash balance
* Weakening of business risk profile through lower order inflows, lower order execution and weakening of operating margin.

About the Company

BHEL is an integrated power plant equipment manufacturer. The 'Maharatna' central public sector enterprise is one of the largest engineering and manufacturing companies in India. Government holds 63.17% of equity in BHEL.

BHEL has operations in the power and industry segments. The power group supplies power plant equipment such as turbo generators, boilers, turbines, and accessories, and offers erection services for all types of power plants such as gas based, coal based, hydro, nuclear, solar power etc. The industry group caters to diverse sectors such as process industries, transportation, power transmission and distribution, and defense. BHEL designs, engineers, manufactures, constructs, tests, commissions, and services a wide range of products. It has 16 manufacturing units, three active joint ventures; and current project execution at more than 150 project sites. It has a widespread overseas footprint with references in 83 countries.

For the first quarter of fiscal 2019, BHEL reported a loss (after tax) of Rs. 216 crore from revenue from operations of Rs. 4,532 crore as compared to PAT of Rs. 156 crore on the revenue from operations of Rs. 5,935 crore during the corresponding period last year.

Key Financial Indicators (CRISIL Adjusted Numbers)
As on/for the period ended March 31 Unit 2019 2018
Operating Income Rs. Crores 30,204 28,857
Profit After Tax (PAT) Rs. Crores 1,215 807
PAT Margin % 4.0 2.8
Adjusted debt/adjusted networth Times 0.08 0.00
Interest coverage Times 7.25 8.14

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 Cash Credit NA NA NA 2778.00 CRISIL AA+/Negative
NA Letter of credit & Bank Guarantee NA NA NA 52620.00 CRISIL A1+
NA Proposed Cash Credit Limit NA NA NA 3222.00 CRISIL AA+/Negative
NA Proposed Letter of credit & Bank Guarantee NA NA NA 1380.00 CRISIL A1+
 
Annexure - List of Entities Consolidated
Names of Entities Consolidated Extent of Consolidation
Raichur Power Corporation Ltd (RPCL) Moderate
Annexure - Rating History for last 3 Years
  Current 2019 (History) 2018  2017  2016  Start of 2016
Instrument Type Outstanding Amount Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Rating
Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  6000.00  CRISIL AA+/Negative      05-11-18  CRISIL AA+/Stable  12-05-17  CRISIL AA+/Negative  25-04-16  CRISIL AA+/Negative  CRISIL AAA/Negative 
            30-08-18  CRISIL AA+/Stable  24-03-17  CRISIL AA+/Negative  09-03-16  CRISIL AA+/Negative   
Non Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  54000.00  CRISIL A1+      05-11-18  CRISIL A1+  12-05-17  CRISIL A1+  25-04-16  CRISIL A1+  CRISIL A1+ 
            30-08-18  CRISIL A1+  24-03-17  CRISIL A1+  09-03-16  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
Cash Credit 2778 CRISIL AA+/Negative Cash Credit 3750 CRISIL AA+/Stable
Letter of credit & Bank Guarantee 52620 CRISIL A1+ Letter of credit & Bank Guarantee 53510 CRISIL A1+
Proposed Cash Credit Limit 3222 CRISIL AA+/Negative Proposed Cash Credit Limit 1250 CRISIL AA+/Stable
Proposed Letter of Credit & Bank Guarantee 1380 CRISIL A1+ Proposed Letter of Credit & Bank Guarantee 1490 CRISIL A1+
Total 60000 -- Total 60000 --
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 Engineering Sector
CRISILs Criteria for Consolidation
CRISILs Criteria for rating short term debt
Criteria for Notching up Stand Alone Ratings of Entities Based on Government Support

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