Rating Rationale
December 31, 2018 | Mumbai
Laxmi Organic Industries Limited
Rating outlook revised to 'Positive'; ratings reaffirmed
 
Rating Action
Total Bank Loan Facilities Rated Rs.381.14 Crore
Long Term Rating CRISIL A-/Positive (Outlook revised from 'Stable' and rating reaffirmed)
Short Term Rating CRISIL A2+ (Reaffirmed)
1 crore = 10 million
Refer to annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities
Detailed Rationale

CRISIL has revised the outlook on long term back facilities to 'Positive' from 'Stable and has reaffirmed its ratings on the bank facilities of Laxmi Organic Industries Limited (LOIL) at 'CRISIL A-/CRISIL A2+'
 
The revision in outlook reflects improvement in the operating performance in fiscal 2018 and first six months of fiscal 2019 marked by increase in scale of operations, sustainenace of operating margin at ~11-12% and increasing share of value-added products in the revenue mix. The upgrade also factors in improvement in business risk profile marked by receipt of contract manufacturing business from a multinational chemical company in fiscal 2019 for supply of value-added specialty chemicals, contribution from this business to support sustaining healthy performance over medium term.
 
The ratings reflect a healthy business risk profile because of an established presence and strong market position in the ethyl acetate segment in India, and focus on improving revenue diversity backed by higher contribution from specialty chemicals and increasing exports. The ratings also factor in a comfortable financial risk profile. These rating strengths are partially offset by vulnerability of the operating margin to commodity prices and currency rates as well as competitive pressures and working capital-intensive operations.
 
During six months ended September 30, 2018, the company posted standalone revenue growth of 20% year-on-year over corresponding period in last fiscal while the standalone operating margin stood at 12.2% as against 11.3% during corresponding period in last fiscal. The improvement in operating margin is marked by increase in share of value-added products in the revenue mix. Earlier in fiscal 2018, the company posted revenue growth of 28% and operating margin of 11.1% as against 11.4% in fiscal 2017.
 
The financial risk profile is expected to improve on account of healthy increase in cash accrual, and gradual reduction in debt. While the company is expected to carry out capex to the tune of Rs 100 crore per annum over medium term, the same is expected to be funded mainly through cash accrual. The debt protection metrics is expected to remain healthy over medium term with interest cover of above 10 times and TOL/TNW of below 1.3 times over medium term.

Analytical Approach

For arriving at its ratings, CRISIL has combined the business and financial risk profiles of LOIL and its fully owned subsidiaries, Laxmi Organic Industries (Europe) BV, Laxmi Petrochem Middle East FZE, Cellbion Life Science Pvt Ltd, Viva Lifesciences Pvt Ltd, Laxmi Lifesciences Pvt Ltd and Saideep Traders. That's because all these companies, together referred to herein as LOIL, have common promoters and management, and business and financial linkages. CRISIL has added letters of credit which is part of contingent liabilities to the creditors for calculating the total outside liabilities as this pertains to inventory contracted but not delivered.

Please refer Annexure - Details of consolidation, which captures the list of entities considered and their analytical treatment of consolidation.

Key Rating Drivers & Detailed Description
Strengths
* Healthy business risk profile
The company has an established track record of more than 25 years in the ethyl acetate segment and has weathered the seasonality inherent in the sector. It has added new customers with demand throughout the year in order to reduce seasonality. LOIL is among the major ethyl acetate manufacturers in India and hence benefits from economies of scale.

* Improving revenue diversity backed by higher contribution from specialty chemicals including diketene derivatives segment and increasing exports
The product mix (commodities to specialty chemicals) is improving over the years. The company has been diversifying into newer higher margin products such as E4CA, AAA, Oxime etc. The contribution of higher margin Diketene derivative segment has also increased over the years. Furthermore, there is moderate geographical diversity with exports at over 25% of revenue.
 
* Comfortable financial risk profile
TOLTNW ratio was comfortable at 1.3 time as on March 31, 2018. Expected healthy cash accrual of Rs 150-160 crore per annum will be sufficient for capex and incremental working capital requirement leading to reducing dependence on external and sustenance of healthy financial risk profile in the medium term.
 
Weaknesses
* Vulnerability of profitability to fluctuation in raw material prices and foreign exchange (forex) rates
Raw material (mainly acetic acid and ethyl alcohol) costs account for 65-78% of revenue. Acetic acid is a crude derivative and is largely imported. Hence, the price of acetic acid is subject to fluctuations in both crude prices as well as forex rates. Similarly, the price of local ethyl alcohol, derived from sugarcane molasses, is cyclical. Furthermore, the ethyl acetate business is highly commoditised, thus limiting pricing flexibility.
 
* Exposure to competition; working capital-intensive nature of business
In the ethyl acetate business, the company faces competition from other manufacturers. Gross current assets were about 143 days as on March 31, 2018, driven mainly by moderately high debtors and inventory of about 86 and 44 days, respectively.
Outlook: Positive

CRISIL believes the business risk profile will continue to strengthen over the medium term, driven by an established presence in the ethyl acetate segment and increased focus on the high-margin diketene segment, and other more profitable products resulting in healthy revenue growth and cash accruals. The financial risk profile is expected to improve due to no major debt-funded capex plans and strong cash accrual.
Upside scenario
* Sustenance of the improved operating performance
* Continued improvement in key credit metrics
 
Downside scenario
* Sharp decline in revenue, profitability, and cash accrual
* Larger-than-expected debt-funded capex or acquisition, leading to weakening of the key credit metrics
* Large dividend payout or share buyback  resulting in weakening of the capital structure

Liquidity
LOIL has adequate liquidity driven by expected cash accruals of more than Rs 130-150 crore per annum from fiscal 2019 to fiscal 2021 and cash and cash equivalents of around Rs 25 crore as on September 30, 2018. LOIL also has access to fund based and non-fund based working capital limit of Rs 347 crore, utilized to the tune of 78% on an average over the 12 months ended October 2018. The overall reliance of company on fund based working capital limits is low as most of the raw material procurement is done through letter of credit, resulting into lower fund based utilization of 29% of drawing power during last 12 months. The company has annual long term repayment obligations around Rs 20-40 crore over next 3 years along with moderate capex plans of Rs 100 crore per annum over medium term. CRISIL expects internal accruals, cash & cash equivalents and unutilized bank lines to be sufficient to meet its repayment obligations. The capex is also expected to be funded mainly through internal accrual.

About the Company

LOIL, incorporated in 1989, commenced operations in 1991 with manufacturing of acetic acid. The company currently primarily manufactures ethyl acetate, which accounts for around 70% of its revenue; diketene derivatives account for the remaining 30%. Its manufacturing facility in Mahad, Maharashtra, has a capacity to produce 135,000 tonne per annum (tpa) of ethyl acetate, 14,400 tpa of acetic anhydride, and 22,280 tpa of diketene derivatives.
 
In the six months ended September 30, 2018, on a standalone basis, net profit was Rs 41.5 crore on operating income of Rs 701.3 crore, against net profit of Rs 37.0 crore on operating income of Rs 583.3 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Key Financial Indicators
Particulars for financial year ended March 31,  Unit 2018 2017
Revenue Rs. Cr. 1374 1077
Profit After Tax Rs. Cr. 76.3 71.7
PAT Margins % 5.6 6.7
Adjusted Debt/Adjusted Net worth Times 0.57 0.42
Interest coverage Times 14.98 9.13
Consolidated

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 Letter of Credit@ NA NA NA 35 CRISIL A2+
NA Letter of credit@@@ NA NA NA 75 CRISIL A-/Positive
NA Cash credit NA NA NA 50 CRISIL A-/Positive
NA Term loan NA NA 05-Jul-2020 7.04 CRISIL A-/Positive
NA External commercial borrowings* NA NA 30-Sep-2017 3.62 CRISIL A-/Positive
NA External commercial borrowings NA NA 15-Jun-2020 38.48 CRISIL A-/Positive
NA Bank guarantee NA NA NA 7 CRISIL A2+
NA Cash credit^^ NA NA NA 40 CRISIL A-/Positive
NA Cash credit** NA NA NA 35 CRISIL A-/Positive
NA Cash credit& NA NA NA 35 CRISIL A-/Positive
NA Stand by line of credit NA NA NA 5 CRISIL A-/Positive
NA Letter of credit! NA NA NA 50 CRISIL A-/Positive
*CRISIL is awaiting independent confirmation of redemption before withdrawing ratings on these instruments
^^Interchangeable with upto maximum of Rs. 20 crores for working capital demand loan, Rs. 15 crores for export packing credit/packing credit in foreign currency / export bill discounting/ export bill negotiation
&Fully interchangeability with fund based working capital and letter of credit, includes a sublimit for standby line of credit of Rs. 15 Crores for onward lending of working capital limits to the borrower's subsidiary 'Laxmi Petrochem Middle East FZE' in Dubai
@@@Fully interchangeability with fund based working capital and letter of credit, includes sublimit of Rs. 65 crores for buyers credit, Rs.49 crores for export packing credit/packing credit in foreign currency / export bill discounting/ export bill negotiation, Rs. 10 Crores for cash credit, Rs. 5 crores for working capital demand loan
! Fully interchangeability with buyers credit, cash credit, working capital demand loan, export packing credit/packing credit in foreign currency, post shipment credit/ post shipment in foreign currency, sale invoice discounting
**Fully interchangeability between Fund based and Non Fund Based working Capital
@Interchangeable with upto maximum of Rs.35 Crore for Buyers' Credit

Annexure - Details of consolidation
Entities consolidated  
Laxmi Organic Industries (Europe) BV, Full consolidation
Laxmi Petrochem Middle East FZE Full consolidation
Cellbion Life Science Pvt Ltd Full consolidation
Viva Lifesciences Pvt Ltd Full consolidation
Laxmi Lifesciences Pvt Ltd Full consolidation
Saideep Traders Full consolidation
Annexure - Rating History for last 3 Years
  Current 2018 (History) 2017  2016  2015  Start of 2015
Instrument Type Outstanding Amount Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Rating
Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  214.14  CRISIL A-/Positive      14-09-17  CRISIL A-/Stable  30-03-16  CRISIL BBB+/Stable  12-01-15  CRISIL BBB+/Stable  CRISIL BBB+/Stable 
            23-03-17  CRISIL BBB+/Positive  18-02-16  CRISIL BBB+/Stable       
Non Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  167.00  CRISIL A-/Positive/ CRISIL A2+      14-09-17  CRISIL A-/Stable/ CRISIL A2+  30-03-16  CRISIL BBB+/Stable/ CRISIL A2  12-01-15  CRISIL BBB+/Stable/ CRISIL A2  CRISIL BBB+/Stable/ CRISIL A2 
            23-03-17  CRISIL BBB+/Positive/ CRISIL A2  18-02-16  CRISIL BBB+/Stable/ CRISIL A2       
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
Bank Guarantee 7 CRISIL A2+ Bank Guarantee 7 CRISIL A2+
Cash Credit 50 CRISIL A-/Positive Cash Credit 50 CRISIL A-/Stable
Cash Credit^^ 40 CRISIL A-/Positive Cash Credit^^ 40 CRISIL A-/Stable
Cash Credit** 35 CRISIL A-/Positive Cash Credit** 35 CRISIL A-/Stable
Cash Credit& 35 CRISIL A-/Positive Cash Credit& 35 CRISIL A-/Stable
External Commercial Borrowings 42.1 CRISIL A-/Positive External Commercial Borrowings 42.1 CRISIL A-/Stable
Letter of Credit@@@ 75 CRISIL A-/Positive Letter of Credit@@@ 75 CRISIL A-/Stable
Letter of Credit! 50 CRISIL A-/Positive Letter of Credit! 50 CRISIL A-/Stable
Letter of Credit@ 35 CRISIL A2+ Letter of Credit@ 35 CRISIL A2+
Standby Line of Credit 5 CRISIL A-/Positive Standby Line of Credit 5 CRISIL A-/Stable
Term Loan 7.04 CRISIL A-/Positive Term Loan 7.04 CRISIL A-/Stable
Total 381.14 -- Total 381.14 --
^^Interchangeable with upto maximum of Rs. 20 crores for working capital demand loan, Rs. 15 crores for export packing credit/packing credit in foreign currency / export bill discounting/ export bill negotiation
&Fully interchangeability with fund based working capital and letter of credit, includes a sublimit for standby line of credit of Rs. 15 Crores for onward lending of working capital limits to the borrower's subsidiary 'Laxmi Petrochem Middle East FZE' in Dubai
@@@Fully interchangeability with fund based working capital and letter of credit, includes sublimit of Rs. 65 crores for buyers credit, Rs.49 crores for export packing credit/packing credit in foreign currency / export bill discounting/ export bill negotiation, Rs. 10 Crores for cash credit, Rs. 5 crores for working capital demand loan
! Fully interchangeability with buyers credit, cash credit, working capital demand loan, export packing credit/packing credit in foreign currency, post shipment credit/ post shipment in foreign currency, sale invoice discounting
**Fully interchangeability between Fund based and Non Fund Based working Capital
@Interchangeable with upto maximum of Rs.35 Crore for Buyers' Credit
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 Chemical Industry
CRISILs Criteria for Consolidation
CRISILs Criteria for rating short term debt

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