Rating Rationale
October 10, 2019 | Mumbai
Huhtamaki PPL Limited
Ratings Reaffirmed
 
Rating Action
Total Bank Loan Facilities Rated Rs.175 Crore
Long Term Rating CRISIL AA-/Stable (Reaffirmed)
Short Term Rating CRISIL A1+ (Reaffirmed)
 
Rs. 100 Crore Commercial Paper CRISIL A1+ (Reaffirmed)
1 crore = 10 million
Refer to annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities
Detailed Rationale

CRISIL has reaffirmed its 'CRISIL AA-/Stable/CRISIL A1+' ratings on bank facilities and the commercial paper programme and of Huhtamaki PPL Limited (HPPL).
 
On September 30, 2019, HPPL announced approval of their board for acquisition of flexible packaging business of Mohan Mutha Polytex Pvt Ltd (MMPPL). HPPL has executed a business transfer agreement for the acquisition. The transaction is on a slump sale basis for a consideration of Rs 80 crore on a cash-free, debt-free basis will be funded through external debt. The transaction is expected to be completed in quarter ending December 31, 2019. MMPPL's plant is in Sricity, Andhra Pradesh and has major fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies as its clients.
 
CRISIL believes that the acquisition will gradually improve the business risk profile with better geographical diversity due to access to southern Indian market. Additional debt availed for acquisition is not expected to have significant impact on financial risk profile of HPPL.
 
The outstanding NCDs of Rs 385.0 crore raised to fund the acquisition of Positive Packaging India Limited (PPIL) have bullet repayment on January 27, 2020. The NCDs are expected to be repaid on maturity through a mix of debt and internal resources. Nevertheless, strong financial support from parent continues to be available. CRISIL expects the net debt to remain at comfortable levels of Rs. 300-350 crore over medium term.
 
The ratings continue to reflect HPPL's established position in the flexible packaging industry and comfortable financial risk profile. These strengths are partially offset by exposure to intense competition in the fragmented flexible packaging industry and regulatory risks due to environmental issues, and susceptibility of profitability to volatility in raw material prices.

Analytical Approach

CRISIL has amortised the goodwill on acquisition of Ajanta Packaging (Ajanta) of around Rs. 47 Crore over a period of five years commencing June 2018.

Key Rating Drivers & Detailed Description
Strengths
* Established market position in the premium flexible packaging market
HPPL is a leading converter in the domestic flexible packaging industry. Its established market position is supported by its diversified product range, which comprises flexibles, labels, and metallised and polythene films. CRISIL believes HPPL's strong and diverse customer profile, along with the relative inelasticity of the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector to economic cycles, will continue to support its strong business risk profile over the medium term. HPPL's innovation and product development capabilities are enhanced by parent, Huhtamaki Oyj (Huhtamaki), Finland
 
* Comfortable financial risk profile
The financial risk profile is marked by sufficient internal accruals and stable operating performance. The net debt is expected to remain at comfortable levels of Rs 300-350 crore. Debt protection metrics are comfortable due to expected healthy operating margin 11-12% and stable debt profile. Interest cover and net cash accrual to total debt ratio (NCATD) are expected to remain in the range of 8-10 times and 0.3 to 0.5 times respectively over next 2-3 years. Interest cover and NCATD were 7.6 times and 0.2 time respectively for CY 2018.
 
Weaknesses
* Exposure to intense competition in the fragmented flexible packaging industry and regulatory risks due to environmental issues
The fragmented nature of flexible packaging industry puts pressure on profitability of the converters. Though the industry is highly consolidated in terms of catering to the FMCG and pharmaceutical customers, there is intense competition among the players, which restricts pricing flexibility. Also, these companies have limited bargaining power against large FMCG/pharmaceutical players.
 
The company is exposed to regulatory risks due to increasing focus on environmental issues. Any adverse regulatory changes impacting the credit profile of HPPL is a monitorable.
 
* Susceptibility of profitability to volatility in raw material prices
Raw material cost accounts for around 65-70% of the company's operating income. The prices of key raw materials, such as films, polyethylene granules, and biaxially-oriented polyethylene, are linked to crude oil prices, which are volatile. HPPL is able to pass on the raw material price variations to customers with a lag. CRISIL believes the company's operating margin will remain susceptible to volatility in input cost.
 
Liquidity: Adequate
HPPL has adequate liquidity driven by expected cash accruals of around Rs.150 crore per annum. HPPL had cash and equivalents of Rs 122 crore as on June 30, 2019. However, the same is expected to be consumed to fund the repayment of NCDs in January 2020. Bank lines of around Rs 248 Cr were moderately utilized with average utilization of 28% for six months ended August 2019. The limits were utilised majorly for non-fund based purposes while fund based limits remained largely unutilised.  Since the liquidity in form of cash and equivalents will be utilised for repayment of the NCDs, dependence on bank lines for working capital will be higher, leading to higher utilisation. The repayment of NCDs of Rs 385 crore will be funded through a mix of debt and internal resources.
Outlook: Stable

CRISIL believes HPPL will maintain a healthy business risk profile over the medium term, and will continue to benefit from business and financial support from Huhtamaki.
 
Rating Sensitivity Factors
Upward factor
* Substantial improvement in business performance leading to improvement in operating profitability by 200-300 bps on a sustainable basis
* Significant improvement in capital structure and debt protection metrics
 
Downward factor
* Considerable decline in business performance, profitability and cash accruals
* Weakening of financial profile with increase in total outside liabilities to tangible networth ratio (TOL/TNW) to over 2 times
* Any adverse regulatory changes in future impacting the credit profile

About the Company

HPPL, founded in 1935, is an established player in India's flexible packaging industry. The company manufactures printed laminates of plastic, aluminum foil, and paper-based films. Parent, Huhtamaki holds 66.94% equity stake in HPPL as on December 31, 2018.

HPPL has 17 manufacturing facilities in the states of Maharashtra, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Assam, Karnataka, Daman and Himachal Pradesh.
 
HPPL has declared acquisition of flexible packaging business of Mohan Mutha Polytex Pvt Ltd on a slump sale basis. The acquisition is expected to be completed by December 2019.

Key Financial Indicators
As on / for the period ended December 31 Units 2018 2017
Revenue Rs Crore 2369 2131
Profit after tax (PAT) Rs Crore 29 64
PAT margin % 1.2% 3.0%
Adjusted Debt/Adjusted Networth Times 0.74 0.72
Interest coverage Times 7.68 6.87

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 crore) Rating assigned with outlook
NA Cash Credit & Working Capital Demand Loan* NA NA NA 118.15 CRISIL AA-/Stable
NA Letter Of Credit & Bank Guarantee NA NA NA 46.5 CRISIL A1+
NA Proposed Long Term Bank Loan Facility NA NA NA 10.35 CRISIL AA-/Stable
NA Commercial Paper NA NA 7-365 days 100 CRISIL A1+
*Fully interchangeable with non-fund based limits
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
Commercial Paper  ST  100.00  CRISIL A1+  26-06-19  CRISIL A1+  29-03-18  CRISIL A1+    --    --  -- 
        27-03-19  CRISIL A1+               
Short Term Debt (Including Commercial Paper)  ST              21-09-17  CRISIL A1+  16-12-16  CRISIL A1+  CRISIL A1+ 
                12-07-17  CRISIL A1+  08-11-16  CRISIL A1+   
Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  128.50  CRISIL AA-/Stable  26-06-19  CRISIL AA-/Stable  29-03-18  CRISIL AA-/Stable  21-09-17  CRISIL AA-/Stable  16-12-16  CRISIL AA-/Stable  CRISIL AA-/Stable 
        27-03-19  CRISIL AA-/Stable      12-07-17  CRISIL AA-/Stable  08-11-16  CRISIL AA-/Stable   
Non Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  46.50  CRISIL A1+  26-06-19  CRISIL A1+  29-03-18  CRISIL A1+  21-09-17  CRISIL A1+  16-12-16  CRISIL A1+  CRISIL A1+ 
        27-03-19  CRISIL A1+      12-07-17  CRISIL A1+  08-11-16  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 & Working Capital demand loan* 118.15 CRISIL AA-/Stable Cash Credit & Working Capital demand loan* 118.15 CRISIL AA-/Stable
Letter of credit & Bank Guarantee 46.5 CRISIL A1+ Letter of credit & Bank Guarantee 46.5 CRISIL A1+
Proposed Long Term Bank Loan Facility 10.35 CRISIL AA-/Stable Proposed Long Term Bank Loan Facility 10.35 CRISIL AA-/Stable
Total 175 -- Total 175 --
*Fully interchangeable with non-fund based 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
CRISILs Criteria for rating short term debt

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