Rating Rationale
August 31, 2017 | Mumbai
North Eastern Carrying Corporation Limited
Ratings Reaffirmed
 
Rating Action
Total Bank Loan Facilities Rated Rs.88 Crore
Long Term Rating CRISIL BBB-/Stable (Reaffirmed)
Short Term Rating CRISIL A3 (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 North Eastern Carrying Corporation Limited (NECCL) at 'CRISIL BBB-/Stable/CRISIL A3'.
 
The ratings reflect NECC's established position in the road freight transport segment and its comfortable net worth and leverage. The rating strengths are partially offset by exposure to intense competition due to competitive and fragmented nature of the logistics industry and susceptibility to pricing pressures and to overall level of economic activity and average liquidity; however, supported by promoter fund.

Key Rating Drivers & Detailed Description
Strengths
* Established position in the road freight transport segment: NECCL is a reputed player in the domestic freight transportation business, specializing in the FTL segment. Over four decades of experience has enabled the company to become an established player providing reliable transport services to players across diverse industries; thereby partially offsetting the risks related to fluctuating revenue flows due to adverse economic cycle of any particular industry.
 
* Comfortable net worth and leverage: Net worth is comfortable at Rs 73 crores as on March 31, 2017 and estimated total outside liabilities to adjusted net worth (TOLANW) of around 1.3 times as on March 31, 2017.  Net worth (expected at over Rs 80 crore in fiscal 2018) and TOLANW (expected below 1 time in fiscal 2018) is expected to remain comfortable over the medium term.
 
Weaknesses
* Exposure to intense competition due to competitive and fragmented nature of the logistics industry: The road freight transport industry in India is highly fragmented because of low entry barriers and therefore, NECC faces competition from both organized and unorganized players.  Although, roadways are the most preferred mode of transport in the country due to inherent advantages, however, users still have an edge in pricing power due to high fragmentation in the sector and competition even among large fleet transport operators.
 
* Susceptibility to pricing pressures and to overall level of economic activity: The road freight transport sector is largely dominated by small players due to low entry barriers on account of modest capital and technology requirements and easy availability of finances for vehicles. Furthermore, limited scope for service differentiation leads to intense competition among players, as reflected in modest operating margin of 3.6-3.9% over the four fiscals through 2017.
 
* Average liquidity; however, supported by promoter fund: The company has availed fresh working capital term loans (WCTL) from Kotak Mahindra bank of Rs 25 crores. The repayment of the same would be over 36 months. Consequently, scheduled debt repayment obligation is expected to be over Rs 8 crore in fiscal 2018 against which company is expected to generate cash accrual of around Rs 9.8 crores. However, the liquidity is expected to be supported by promoters' fund as they plan to infuse unsecured loan which will be used to prepay WCTL.
Outlook: Stable

CRISIL believes NECCL will continue to benefit from its promoters' extensive experience in the road freight transport business and its established customer relationships. The outlook may be revised to Positive in case of higher-than-expected profitability or revenue, leading to significant improvement in financial risk profile, particularly liquidity. The outlook may be revised to Negative if debt protection metrics weaken because of decline in operating margin, or if the company undertakes larger-than-expected debt-funded capital expenditure, adversely affecting its capital structure.

About the Company

NECCL was set up as a partnership firm in 1968 by Mr. J R Jain and was reconstituted as a limited company in the late 1990s. It provides freight transportation services to bulk and retail customers, largely in the full truckload (FTL) segment, and other services such as warehousing and packing. The company is listed on the National Stock Exchange and the BSE Ltd.
 
For the quarter ended June 30, 2017, company reported profit after tax (PAT) of Rs. 1.32 crores on net sales of Rs. 140 crores against PAT of Rs 1.29 crore on net sales of Rs. 136 crores for quarter ended June 30, 2016.

Key Financial Indicators
Particulars Unit 2017 2016
Revenue Rs. Cr. 549 539
Profit After Tax Rs. Cr. 5.6 5.7
PAT margins % 1.0 1.0
Adjusted Debt/Adjusted Net worth Times 1.14 1.16
Interest coverage Times 2.45 2.21

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 Cash Credit NA NA NA 35 CRISIL BBB-/Stable
NA Working Capital Term Loan NA NA Aug-2020 25 CRISIL BBB-/Stable
NA Proposed Long Term Bank Loan Facility NA NA NA 22 CRISIL BBB-/Stable
NA Bank Guarantee NA NA NA 5 CRISIL A3
NA Working Capital Demand Loan NA NA NA 1 CRISIL BBB-/Stable
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  83  CRISIL BBB-/Stable    No Rating Change    No Rating Change    No Rating Change    No Rating Change  CRISIL BBB-/Stable 
Non Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  CRISIL A3    No Rating Change    No Rating Change    No Rating Change    No Rating Change  CRISIL A3 
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 5 CRISIL A3 Bank Guarantee 5 CRISIL A3
Cash Credit 35 CRISIL BBB-/Stable Cash Credit 67 CRISIL BBB-/Stable
Proposed Long Term Bank Loan Facility 22 CRISIL BBB-/Stable Working Capital Demand Loan 1 CRISIL BBB-/Stable
Working Capital Demand Loan 1 CRISIL BBB-/Stable Working Capital Term Loan 15 CRISIL BBB-/Stable
Working Capital Term Loan 25 CRISIL BBB-/Stable -- 0 --
Total 88 -- Total 88 --
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
Criteria for rating Short-Term Debt (including Commercial Paper)

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