Rating Rationale
July 31, 2017 | Mumbai
Larsen and Toubro Infotech Limited
Ratings Reaffirmed
 
Rating Action
Total Bank Loan Facilities Rated Rs.900 Crore
Long Term Rating CRISIL AA+/Stable (Reaffirmed)
Short Term Rating CRISIL A1+ (Reaffirmed)
1 crore = 10 million
Refer to annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities
Detailed Rationale

CRISIL has reaffirmed its ratings on the bank facilities of Larsen and Toubro Infotech Limited (LTI) at 'CRISIL AA+/Stable/CRISIL A1+'.

The ratings continue to reflect an established market position in the banking, financial services, insurance, manufacturing and other segments like Energy and Process, Consumer Packaged Goods, Retail and Pharmaceuticals. The ratings also factor in a strong financial risk profile marked by absence of debt, strong cash accruals and healthy liquidity. Furthermore, the company benefits from the implicit support received from its parent, Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T; rated 'CRISIL AAA/FAAA/Stable/CRISIL A1+'), and the strength of the L&T brand. These rating strengths are partially offset by customer and geographic concentration in revenue, and exposure to risks related to intense competition in the IT industry in India.

Analytical Approach

For arriving at the ratings, CRISIL has combined the business and financial risk profiles of L&T Infotech and its subsidiaries, held directly or indirectly, as all the companies have a common management and are in the same line of business.

Key Rating Drivers & Detailed Description
Strengths
* Healthy business risk profile, supported by an established market position
The company has an established market position in key verticals and sound operating efficiency. Diversified service offerings such as Application Development Maintenance, Enterprise Solutions, Infrastructure Management Services, Testing, Analytics & Artificial Intelligence strengthens the business risk profile of the company.

* Strong financial risk profile
The company has a strong financial risk profile marked by large net worth, healthy cash accruals, strong liquidity. As on March 31, 2017, the company had reported a sizeable networth of Rs 3145 crore and zero debt, resulting in a healthy capital structure.

* Implicit support from the parent
Being an L&T group company, it benefits from the strong brand name and domain expertise available within the group, resulting in better penetration and acceptability in the market.

Weakness
* Customer and geographical concentration in revenue
The top five customers accounted for around 37.6% (37.5% for 2015-16) of total revenue with 68.8% being contributed by North America, in fiscal 2017. Any regulatory changes in the region could have a significant impact on operations. Protectionist measures adopted by the US may also pose business challenge for the company as well as its peers.

* Exposure to intense competition in the IT industry
The business environment for the IT industry continues to be challenging. Indian IT players will need to scale up their operations, primarily due to intense competition among themselves and from multinational corporations that are expanding their offshore operations in India. The other challenges faced include maintaining an efficient cost structure, ensuring effective labour retention and utilisation, and remaining responsive to the dynamic nature of the industry.
Outlook: Stable

CRISIL believes LTI will maintain a healthy business risk profile over the medium term, supported by steady revenue growth and sound operating efficiency. The financial risk profile is also expected to remain strong over this period due to healthy cash accrual and the absence of any debt-funded capital expenditure or acquisition plans.
 
Upside scenario
* An increase in scale of operations and significant improvement in the market position
* Better revenue diversity and high operating profitability, while the financial risk profile is maintained.
 
Downside scenario
* Low revenue growth or significant decrease in profitability
* Sizeable debt-funded expansion leading to weakening of debt protection metrics

About the Company

LTI, headquartered in Mumbai, was incorporated in December 1996; the company is a subsidiary of L&T. LTI provides IT services, including Application, Development, Maintenance, Enterprise Solutions, Infrastructure Management Services, Testing, Analytics, AI & Cognitive and other services. In January 2014, the company transferred its product engineering services division to a group company, L&T Technology Services ('CRISIL AA+/Stable/CRISIL A1+').
 
LTI has offshore delivery centres in Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, and Chennai; global development centres in the US, Canada, Europe, South Africa, the Middle East, and Singapore; as well as various sales offices.
 
For fiscal 2017, on a consolidated basis, the company reported profit after tax (PAT) was Rs.970.9 crores on total income of Rs 6687.6 Crore (including revenue from operations of Rs. 6500.9 crores), against a PAT of Rs 836.5 crore on total  income of Rs 6036.1 crore (including revenue from operations of Rs.5846.4 crores ) in 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 crore)
Rating assigned  with outlook
NA Bank Guarantee### NA NA NA 50.0 CRISIL A1+
NA Bank Guarantee NA NA NA 177.0 CRISIL A1+
NA Packing Credit NA NA NA 125.0 CRISIL A1+
NA Packing Credit@ NA NA NA 79.0 CRISIL A1+
NA Packing Credit** NA NA NA 32.0 CRISIL AA+/Stable
NA Packing Credit^ NA NA NA 50.0 CRISIL AA+/Stable
NA Packing Credit^^ NA NA NA 30.0 CRISIL A1+
NA Packing Credit## NA NA NA 25.0 CRISIL AA+/Stable
NA Packing Credit@@ NA NA NA 10.0 CRISIL AA+/Stable
NA Proposed Bank Guarantee NA NA NA 173.0 CRISIL A1+
NA Proposed Long Term Bank Loan Facility NA NA NA 25.0 CRISIL AA+/Stable
NA Proposed Packing Credit NA NA NA 124.0 CRISIL A1+
** Interchangeable with cash credit/overdraft facility
##Fully interchangeable with cash credit/overdraft facility and bank guarantee limits.
^Fully interchangeable with cash credit/overdraft facility and buyer's credit limits.
@Rs.26 crore interchangeable with bank guarantee limits.
@@Fully interchangeable with cash credit/overdraft facility
^^Rs.28 crore interchangeable with buyer's credit limit
###Interchangeable with packing credit of up to Rs.25 crore
Annexure - Rating History for last 3 Years
  Current 2017 (History) 2016  2015  2014  Start of 2014
Instrument Type Quantum Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Rating
Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  500  CRISIL AA+/Stable/ CRISIL A1+    No Rating Change    No Rating Change    No Rating Change    No Rating Change  CRISIL AA+/Stable/ CRISIL A1+ 
Non Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  400  CRISIL A1+    No Rating Change    No Rating Change    No Rating Change    No Rating Change  CRISIL A1+ 
Table reflects instances where rating is changed or freshly assigned. 'No Rating Change' implies that there was no rating change under the release.
Annexure - Details of various bank facilities
Current facilities Previous facilities
Facility Amount (Rs.Crore) Rating Facility Amount (Rs.Crore) Rating
Bank Guarantee### 50 CRISIL A1+ Bank Guarantee### 50 CRISIL A1+
Bank Guarantee 177 CRISIL A1+ Bank Guarantee 177 CRISIL A1+
Packing Credit 125 CRISIL A1+ Packing Credit 125 CRISIL A1+
Packing Credit@ 79 CRISIL A1+ Packing Credit@ 79 CRISIL A1+
Packing Credit^^ 30 CRISIL A1+ Packing Credit^^ 30 CRISIL A1+
Packing Credit** 32 CRISIL AA+/Stable Packing Credit** 32 CRISIL AA+/Stable
Packing Credit^ 50 CRISIL AA+/Stable Packing Credit^ 50 CRISIL AA+/Stable
Packing Credit## 25 CRISIL AA+/Stable Packing Credit## 25 CRISIL AA+/Stable
Packing Credit@@ 10 CRISIL AA+/Stable Packing Credit@@ 10 CRISIL AA+/Stable
Proposed Bank Guarantee 173 CRISIL A1+ Proposed Bank Guarantee 173 CRISIL A1+
Proposed Long Term Bank Loan Facility 25 CRISIL AA+/Stable Proposed Long Term Bank Loan Facility 25 CRISIL AA+/Stable
Proposed Packing Credit 124 CRISIL A1+ Proposed Packing Credit 124 CRISIL A1+
Total 900 -- Total 900 --
** Interchangeable with cash credit/overdraft facility limits
##Fully interchangeable with cash credit/overdraft facility and bank guarantee limits
^Fully interchangeable with cash credit/overdraft facility and buyer's credit limits
@Rs 26 crore interchangeable with bank guarantee limits
@@Fully interchangeable with cash credit/overdraft facility
^^Rs 28 crore interchangeable with buyer's credit limit
###Interchangeable with packing credit up to Rs 25 crore
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 Software Industry

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