Rating Rationale
January 30, 2017 | Mumbai
Kuantum Papers Limited
 
Rating Action
Total Bank Loan Facilities Rated Rs.186.29 Crore
Long Term Rating CRISIL BBB-/Stable (Reaffirmed)
Long Term Rating CRISIL BBB-/Stable (Notice of Withdrawal)
Short Term Rating CRISIL A3 (Notice of Withdrawal)
 
Rs.30 Crore Fixed Deposits FA-/Stable (Reaffirmed)
Refer to annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities
Detailed Rationale

CRISIL had placed its ratings on the Rs 35 crore cash credit facility and Rs 48.25 crore non-fund-based (letter of credit and bank guarantee) facility of Kuantum Paper Ltd (KPL) on 'Notice of Withdrawal' for 60 days on November 10, 2016 and has reaffirmed the ratings on corporate loan of Rs 45 Cr, rupee term loan of Rs 28.34 Cr and term loan of Rs 29.70 Cr at CRISIL BBB-/Stable. However, in compliance with new regulatory guidelines, CRISIL has placing the ratings on notice of withdrawal for an additional 30 days. The ratings will be withdrawn at the end of the notice period. The rating action is in line with CRISIL's policy on withdrawal of its ratings on bank loans.
 
CRISIL has relied on publicly available information for the ratings because of lack of cooperation by KPL in the surveillance process.
 
Revenue rose 5% in fiscal 2016, led by growth in volume, mainly of premium quality paper products such as copier and surface-sized paper. The company sold 1.08 lakh tonne of paper in fiscal 2016, vis-a-vis 0.99 lakh tonne in fiscal 2015. For the first quarter of fiscal 2017, revenue grew 22% over the corresponding period of fiscal 2016.
 
KPL will continue to benefit from its diverse product mix, comprising value-added products such as coloured printing paper, Azure laid paper, parchment paper, cartridge paper, and high-bulk notebook paper, which offer better realisations, besides routine surface-sized and non-surface sized products. Its financial risk profile remains comfortable, driven by healthy networth and comfortable debt protection metrics. Adequate cash accrual has helped improve capital structure steadily, despite regular debt-funded capital expenditure (capex). The financial risk profile should remain comfortable, but may be affected if the company undertakes major capex.

Key Rating Drivers & Detailed Description
Strengths
* Above-average operating efficiency: KPL's above-average operating efficiency is driven by cost-reduction measures, and prudent working capital management. The entire production is against orders, enabling better pricing. Dealers have flexibility to order as per requirement, and customers are supported in terms of product delivery and after-sales services. Film press, top formers, bleaching systems, and wet washing systems are installed for reducing cost. Measures to cost control will lead to higher operating profitability in the near term.
 
* Comfortable market position in the writing and printing paper (WPP) segment: KPL is an established player in the agricultural-residue-based WPP industry, with installed capacity of 100,000 tonne per annum. Almost full capacity utilisation and increased sales volume of premium quality paper products such as copier and surface sized paper resulted in a 5% increase in operating revenue in fiscal 2016. CRISIL expects operating income to grow 10% driven by the management's focus on increasing sales of higher-margin products.
 
Weaknesses:
* Susceptibility to cyclicality in paper prices, and dependence on agricultural raw materials: As paper is essentially a commodity, its prices are volatile, resulting in unpredictable profits. Cyclical downturns may result in lower realisations. Demand for WPP may grow 7-8% over the next 3-4 years. However, in the past 3 years, there has been large capacity addition in the WPP segment. Besides, the cost of power and raw materials have increased. Thus, operating margin of players will remain under pressure in the next 2 years. Furthermore, 80% of KPL's raw material comprises agricultural residues. The three main raw materials - kanna grass, kahi grass, and bagasse - are seasonal and have limited availability, leading to high prices. However, KPL's high operating efficiency and cost competitiveness will mitigate the risks.
 
* Expected muted revenue growth in the absence of capacity addition: Revenue growth will be marginal over the medium term because of full utilisation of installed capacity of 100,000 tonne per year. CRISIL is not aware of the company's capex plan. In the absence of major capacity expansion, revenue growth will be constrained.
 
* Constrained financial flexibility because of large debt obligation in fiscal 2017
Financial flexibility is constrained by large debt obligation due to sizeable debt-funded capex of Rs 212 Crover the six fiscals through March 2016. Around 80% of its net cash accrual was utilised to service term debt in fiscal 2016. However, financial flexibility is likely to improve over the medium term supported by steady increase in net cash accrual.
Outlook: Stable

CRISIL believes KPL will continue to benefit from its comfortable market position and above-average operating efficiency. The outlook may be revised to 'Positive' if substantial revenue growth and stable profitability lead to higher cash accrual and better liquidity. The outlook may be revised to 'Negative' if low cash accrual, large working capital requirement, or significant capex weakens liquidity.

About the Company

KPL manufactures WPP and pulp. Incorporated in 1997, the company has four paper-making machines with capacity of 100,000 tonne per year, and a 16-megawatt cogeneration power plant, in Hoshiarpur, Punjab. KPL also has a chemical recovery plant and a hard-wood pulp street. It uses agriculture-based raw materials, such as wheat straw, kanna grass, and baggase, to produce paper.
 
For fiscal 2016, net profit was Rs 24.5 Cr on net sales of Rs 526 Cr vis-a-vis Rs 2.5 Crore and Rs 500 Cr, respectively, for fiscal 2015. Net profit for the three months ended June 2016 was Rs 14.32 Cr on net sales of Rs 142 Cr, vis-a-vis Rs 0.345 Crore and Rs 116 Cr, for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

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 7.50 CRISIL A3 (Notice of withdrawal)
NA Cash Credit NA NA NA 35.00 CRISIL BBB-/Stable
(Notice of withdrawal)
NA Corporate Loan NA NA Jan-2021 45.00 CRISIL BBB-/Stable
NA Letter of Credit NA NA NA 40.75 CRISIL A3 (Notice of withdrawal)
NA Rupee Term Loan NA NA Jan-2021 28.34 CRISIL BBB-/Stable
NA Term Loan NA NA Jan-2021 29.70 CRISIL BBB-/Stable
NA Fixed Deposits NA NA NA 30 FA-/Stable
1 crore = 10 million
Annexure - Rating History for last 3 Years
  Current 2017 (History) 2016  2015  2014   
Instrument Type Quantum Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Beginning
Fixed Deposits  FD  30  FA-/Stable    No Rating Change    No Rating Change    No Rating Change  15-07-14  FA-/Stable  -- 
Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  138.04  CRISIL BBB-/Stable    No Rating Change    No Rating Change    No Rating Change  15-07-14  CRISIL BBB-/Stable  CRISIL BBB-/Negative 
Non Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  48.25  CRISIL A3    No Rating Change    No Rating Change    No Rating Change    No Rating Change  CRISIL A3 
Annexure - Details of various bank facilities
Current facilities Previous facilities
Facility Amount (Rs.Crore) Rating Facility Amount (Rs.Crore) Rating
Bank Guarantee 7.5 CRISIL A3(Notice of Withdrawal) Bank Guarantee 7.5 CRISIL A3(Notice of Withdrawal)
Cash Credit 35 CRISIL BBB-/Stable(Notice of Withdrawal) Cash Credit 35 CRISIL BBB-/Stable(Notice of Withdrawal)
Corporate Loan 45 CRISIL BBB-/Stable Corporate Loan 45 CRISIL BBB-/Stable
Letter of Credit 40.75 CRISIL A3(Notice of Withdrawal) Letter of Credit 40.75 CRISIL A3(Notice of Withdrawal)
Rupee Term Loan 28.34 CRISIL BBB-/Stable Proposed Long Term Bank Loan Facility 4.55 Withdrawal
Term Loan 29.7 CRISIL BBB-/Stable Rupee Term Loan 28.34 CRISIL BBB-/Stable
-- 0 -- Term Loan 29.7 CRISIL BBB-/Stable
-- 0 -- Term Loan* .76 Withdrawal
Total 186.29 -- Total 191.6 --
1 crore = 10 million
*The term loan with State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur has been repaid and the bank has submitted the document stating the same
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 Paper Industry
Criteria for rating Short-Term Debt (including Commercial Paper)

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