Rating Rationale
June 13, 2023 | Mumbai
Gayatri Sugars Limited
Rating upgraded to 'CRISIL B/Stable'
 
Rating Action
Total Bank Loan Facilities RatedRs.67.59 Crore (Reduced from Rs.136 Crore)
Long Term RatingCRISIL B/Stable (Upgraded from 'CRISIL B-/Stable')
Note: None of the Directors on CRISIL Ratings Limited’s Board are members of rating committee and thus do not participate in discussion or assignment of any ratings. The Board of Directors also does not discuss any ratings at its meetings.
1 crore = 10 million
Refer to Annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities

Detailed rationale

CRISIL Ratings has upgraded its rating on the long-term bank facilities of Gayatri Sugars Limited (GSL) to ‘CRISIL B/Stable’ from ‘CRISIL B-/Stable’. The rating on the proposed long term bank loan facility of Rs 68.41 crore was ‘Withdrawn’ at the company’s request which is in line with CRISIL Ratings policy on withdrawal of ratings.

 

The upgrade reflects the sustained improvement in credit risk profile, supported by healthy operating performance and expected improvement in financial risk profile. Improvement in business performance is reflected in operating income of Rs 389 crore in fiscal 2023; operating margin improved to around 10.4%. The upgrade also takes into account the expected inflow of funds in the form of convertible warrants of Rs 41.50 crore, which will provide cushion to liquidity. Write-off of cumulative interest on preference shares and interest on the Sugar Development Fund (SDF) loan, totalling Rs 25.85 crore, helped to improve the financial risk profile.

 

The rating reflects the weak financial risk profile of GSL, large working capital requirement and susceptibility to risks related to regulatory changes and cyclicality in the sugar industry. These weaknesses are partially offset by the extensive experience of the promoters, integrated nature of operations and the improving business performance.

Key rating drivers & detailed description

Weaknesses:

  • Weak financial risk profile: Adjusted networth continued to be negative at around Rs 116.3 crore as on March 31, 2023, due to sizeable accumulated losses in the past. Debt protection metrics improved in the past two fiscals due to better operational performance, with interest coverage ratio of 1.69 times in fiscal 2023.

 

  • Susceptibility to regulatory changes and cyclicality in the sugar industry: Production and availability of sugarcane depend highly on monsoon, cane prices and prices of alternative crops. The sugar industry is cyclical and highly fragmented. Government regulates the domestic demand-supply scenario by restricting imports and exports and also controls cane procurement prices. Any adverse change in sugarcane prices or realisations on sugar sales can adversely impact profitability. Furthermore, unlike last fiscal, sugar export shall be based on quota provided to each unit and hence its impact on sugar realisation and stock levels remains to be seen.

 

Strengths:

  • Extensive experience of the promoters: The two-decade-long experience of the promoters and their funding support will continue to aid business risk profile.

 

  • Integrated operations: The company has sugar mills, distillery and power generation units, which enables it to convert by-products of sugar such as molasses and bagasse into ethanol/rectified spirit and power, respectively. Also, recovery rate has remained above average at 10.5-11.5% in the past.

 

  • Improving business performance: Improvement in the past two fiscals is reflected in revenue of Rs 388 crore and operating margin of 10.4% for fiscal 2023. Better recovery and operating efficiency will further improve business performance in fiscal 2024.

Liquidity: Stretched

Bank limit are highly utilised (at 97%) in the 12 months through March 2023, with no enhancement in the pipeline. However, Rs 41.50 crore to be raised from issue of warrants will provide comfort to liquidity, though its timely availability will remain critical. The company has no term loan outstanding and repayment of the SDF loan starts from fiscal 2025 and the company is expected to generate adequate cash accruals to take care of the repayment obligations

Outlook: Stable

The company will continue to benefit from the extensive experience of its promoters and integrated nature of operations.

Rating sensitivity factors

Upward factors

  • Sustenance of healthy operating performance driven by higher crushing and healthy sugar recovery rate resulting in operating margin of 10-11%
  • Timely inflow of funds from issue of warrants providing cushion to liquidity

 

Downward factors

  • Lower-than-expected revenue and decline in operating margin to 6-7%
  • Any large debt-funded capex or lower than expected fund inflow impacting the financial profile and liquidity

About the company

Based in Hyderabad, GSL was incorporated in 1995 and is promoted by Ms Indira Subbarami Reddy, Mr Sandeep Reddy and Ms Sarita Reddy. The company manufactures white crystal sugar and rectified spirit/extra neutral alcohol. It has sugarcane crushing capacity of 7,000 tonne per day, while the distillery and co-generation units have 45 kilolitre per day and 25-megawatt capacities, respectively. The company is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Key financial indicators

As on / for the period ended March 31

 

2023

2022

Operating income

Rs crore

388.81

361.07

Reported profit after tax (PAT)

Rs crore

34.32

-8.42

PAT margin

%

8.83

-2.33

Adjusted debt/adjusted networth

Times

-1.24

-0.99

Interest coverage

Times

1.69

1.08

Any other information: Not applicable

Note on complexity levels of the rated instrument:
CRISIL Ratings` 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.

CRISIL Ratings will disclose complexity level for all securities - including those that are yet to be placed - based on available information. The complexity level for instruments may be updated, where required, in the rating rationale published subsequent to the issuance of the instrument when details on such features are available.

For more details on the CRISIL Ratings` complexity levels please visit www.crisilratings.com. 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.)

Complexity

Levels

Rating assigned

with outlook

NA

Cash Credit

NA

NA

NA

39.47

NA

CRISIL B/Stable

NA

Cash Credit

NA

NA

NA

11.22

NA

CRISIL B/Stable

NA

Cash Credit

NA

NA

NA

13.43

NA

CRISIL B/Stable

NA

Cash Credit

NA

NA

NA

3.47

NA

CRISIL B/Stable

NA

Proposed Long Term Bank Loan Facility

NA

NA

NA

68.41

NA

Withdrawn

 

Annexure - Rating History for last 3 Years
  Current 2023 (History) 2022  2021  2020  Start of 2020
Instrument Type Outstanding Amount Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Rating
Fund Based Facilities LT 136.0 CRISIL B/Stable   -- 16-06-22 CRISIL B-/Stable 30-01-21 CRISIL D (Issuer Not Cooperating)*   -- CRISIL D
      --   -- 29-03-22 CRISIL D   --   -- --
All amounts are in Rs.Cr.
* - Issuer did not cooperate; based on best-available information
Annexure - Details of Bank Lenders & Facilities
Facility Amount (Rs.Crore) Name of Lender Rating
Cash Credit 39.47 Union Bank of India CRISIL B/Stable
Cash Credit 11.22 State Bank of India CRISIL B/Stable
Cash Credit 13.43 Bank of Baroda CRISIL B/Stable
Cash Credit 3.47 Punjab National Bank CRISIL B/Stable
Proposed Long Term Bank Loan Facility 68.41 Not Applicable Withdrawn
Criteria Details
Links to related criteria
CRISILs Bank Loan Ratings
Rating Criteria for Sugar Industry
CRISILs Approach to Financial Ratios
Rating criteria on Financial risk framework for manufacturing and services sector companies
CRISILs Approach to Recognising Default

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