| Mahindra and Mahindra Limited | ||||||
| Rated amount enhanced | ||||||
| Rating Action | ||||||
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| 1 crore = 10 million | ||||||
| Refer to annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities |
| Detailed Rationale |
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CRISIL has reaffirmed its 'CRISIL AAA/Stable/CRISIL A1+' ratings on the debt programmes and bank facilities of Mahindra and Mahindra Limited (M&M). |
| Analytical Approach |
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CRISIL has combined the business and financial risk profiles of M&M and its ventures in the UV, commercial vehicles (CV), and farm equipment segments, which are considered as its core businesses. The company also has investments in subsidiaries in the agriculture, financial services, hospitality, aerospace, consulting services, defence, information technology, chemicals, energy, industrial equipment, logistics, real estate, retail, components, and steel industries. CRISIL believes these subsidiaries will receive support from M&M, depending on their strategic importance to it, and the extent of its shareholding and investment in them. CRISIL now moderately consolidates SsangYong Motors Ltd, M&M's subsidiary based in South Korea, given the limited financial support being extended to the entity. The subsidiary was earlier fully consolidated. |
| Key Rating Drivers & Detailed Description |
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Strengths: * Leadership in the Indian tractor industry and healthy market position in LCVs The company has a leadership position in the domestic tractor industry in all major regions, and has maintained a market share of over 40% in the last decade, aided by its superior channel reach and understanding of market dynamics. It also has a strong presence in LCVs. Market share in the goods LCV (lower than 7.5 metric tonne [MT] gross vehicle weight [GVW]) division has been sustained at over 40% in the last five years, while the share in the pick-up segment (2.0-3.5 MT GVW) was over 60% during this period. The company's strong presence in these segments has ensured healthy cash flows and fairly resilient profitability. Good product development capabilities, proficient channel management along with sufficient production capacity should help maintain strong market position over the medium term. This, along with revenue and geographic diversity, are likely to ensure a stable business risk profile, despite the impact of increasing competition and inherent cyclicality. The impact of the Covid-19 outbreak is expected to be relatively lower in intensity for the tractor sector ' given that agricultural activities are exempt from the lockdown. Lower private consumption and lesser freight movement should however impact LCV segment, which was already in the midst of a slowdown in fiscal 2020. Nevertheless, M&M has been able to maintain its profitability in a declining sales environment in these segments in first nine months of fiscal 2020, given its pricing power and cost control measures. This is expected to help the company manage the disruption related to Covid-19 as well. * Superior financial risk profile supported by conservative capital structure, and significant market value of investments Financial risk profile is superior, owing to sizeable net worth, conservative gearing, and surplus liquidity. Positive free cash flow should help maintain a strong financial risk profile, given moderate planned capital expenditure (capex) and investments ' in the current situation being regularly monitored for possible scaling down in fiscal 2021. Moreover, financial flexibility is significant because of investments in listed subsidiaries and associates, which are currently valued much higher than their book value. The strong financial risk profile provides cushion to counter the impact of cyclicality and competitive intensity in the domestic auto and tractor segments. Weaknesses: * Declining market share in the intensely competitive UV segment M&M's market share in UVs fell from about 41.7% in FY 2013-14 to about 25.4% in FY 2017-18 and further to about 20% during Apr'19-Feb'20, owing to expansion of UV market amidst increasing competitive intensity in this space, with tepid success of the company's launches in this period. The company has leveraged its foreign subsidiaries such as Pininfarina S.p.A, Mahindra Automotive North America (MANA), and SsangYong Motor Company for its recent product development. M&M has also announced a JV with Ford Motor Company Inc., USA with a manufacturing capacity of 440,000 vehicles per annum and is jointly developing platforms for upcoming launches. Notwithstanding these initiatives, M&M's market position will continue to face exposure to increasing competitive pressures, given the entry of new players and large number of launches in this space. Moreover, given the discretionary nature of auto-purchases, the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak may be more severe on this segment. * Exposure to cyclicality in automotive and tractors segments Demand for tractors remains vulnerable to monsoons. A bad monsoon can result in high intra-cycle volatility in demand for tractors. Moreover, availability of finance and other factors affecting rural income, such as crop prices and non-farm income, also constrain demand. Nevertheless, profitability has demonstrated resilience to downturns in industry volumes in the past, given the company's pricing power and cost efficiency. The domestic auto industry has also displayed a degree of cyclicality in line with industrial growth. Also, susceptibility to regulatory changes, especially pertaining to diesel vehicles, persists. * Exposure to risks pertaining to acquisitions, and investments in subsidiaries and JVs Given its growth aspirations and acquisitive strategy, M&M may seek opportunities in strategic acquisitions in key products and markets. Most of these acquisitions are likely to be in line with the company's key line of business and should strengthen business risk profile. Some of the investments in segments such as electric vehicles and medium and heavy CVs are in early stages and may remain in investment mode over the medium term, though the company is expected to remain conservative in its capital allocation. While some of M&M's legacy investments have been highly value-accretive, the performance of many of its recent investments has been tepid in terms of scale and profitability. Improvement in performance of recent investments will be a key monitorable. |
| Liquidity Superior |
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CRISIL expects cash accruals of about Rs 4,000-4,500 crore in fiscal 2021, which along with and a large liquid surplus of about Rs 6,800 crore as on March 31, 2020 (M&M Standalone) supports M&M's liquidity profile. Cash accrual and surplus should be more than sufficient to meet incremental capex/investment plans, support working capital and meet long term and short term debt repayment obligations of about Rs. 210 crore FY 2021. Financial flexibility is further enhanced by access to capital markets and significant investments in listed subsidiaries/associates, which can be liquidated, if required. |
| Outlook: Stable |
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CRISIL believes M&M's strong financial risk profile will help it absorb the impact of cyclicality and competitive intensity in its core auto and farm equipment business, and the moderate performance of some of its investments. |
| Rating Sensitivity factors |
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Downward factors: * Any large, debt-funded investments (including acquisitions), support to subsidiaries, or lower-than-expected cash flow weakening the financial risk profile. * Further decline in UV market share to below 20% (including Ford JV) coupled with significant negative free cash flow generation, on a sustained basis. |
| About the Company |
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M&M, incorporated in 1945, is among the leading tractor manufacturers in the world, and a leading manufacturer of Goods Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs) in India. It also manufactures utility vehicles (UVs), medium and heavy commercial vehicles (MHCVs), three-wheelers, two-wheelers, and passenger cars. The company has manufacturing facilities in Mumbai, Nashik, Igatpuri, Nagpur and at Chakan (part of M&M's 100% subsidiary - Mahindra Vehicle Manufactures Ltd [MVML]), (all in Maharashtra), Zaheerabad (Andhra Pradesh), Rudrapur, Haridwar (both in Uttarakhand), and Jaipur (Rajasthan). |
| Key Financial Indicators* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Annexure - List of entities consolidated as per CRISIL's analytical approach | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Annexure - Rating History for last 3 Years | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| All amounts are in Rs.Cr. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Annexure - Details of various bank facilities | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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