Rating Rationale
January 12, 2018 | Mumbai
Optiemus Electronics Limited
Issuer not cooperating, based on best-available information; Rating continues to 'CRISIL BBB-/Watch developing Issuer Not Cooperating'  
 
Rating Action
Total Bank Loan Facilities Rated Rs.25 Crore
Long Term Rating CRISIL BBB- (Issuer Not Cooperating; Continues on 'Rating Watch with Developing Implications')*
1 crore = 10 million
Refer to annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities
*Issuer did not cooperate; based on best-available information
Please note that the rating(s) are based on best available information with the credit rating agency: the entity whose debt is being published via this press release did not provide the requisite information needed to conduct the rating exercise and is therefore classified as 'non cooperative'.
Non cooperation by Issuer

CRISIL has been consistently following up with Optiemus Electronics Ltd (OEL) for obtaining information through letters and email (dated November 13, 2017, among others), apart from telephonic communication. However, the issuer has remained non-cooperative.

'The investors, lenders and all other market participants should exercise due caution while using the rating assigned/reviewed with the suffix 'ISSUER NOT COOPERATING'. These ratings lack a forward-looking component as it is arrived at without any management interaction and is based on best available or limited or dated information on the company'.

Detailed Rationale

Despite repeated attempts to engage with the management, CRISIL has not received any information on either the financial performance or strategic intent of OEL. This restricts CRISIL's ability to take a forward-looking view on the credit quality of the entity. CRISIL believes the information available for OEL is consistent with 'Scenario 5' outlined in the 'Framework for Assessing Consistency of Information'.
 
Based on the last available information, the rating on bank facilities of OEL continues to be 'CRISIL BBB-' while continuing them on 'Rating Watch with Developing Implications' 'Issuer not cooperating'.
 
The ratings reflect the rating continuation of the parent Optiemus Infracom Ltd (OIL; CRISIL BBB/CRISIL A3+ (Issuer not cooperating)' and continued on 'Rating Watch with Developing Implications') which holds 80% stake in OIL.
 
The rating watch reflects limited clarity on OIL's expansion and funding plan post-merger with MPS Telecom Pvt Ltd (MTPL). It also reflects the recent approval for the proposal of amalgamation of Telecare Network India Pvt Ltd (TNIPL) with OIL. CRISIL is closely monitoring the outcome of both the mergers and is awaiting publicly available information about the ultimate group structure. CRISIL will remove the rating from watch once it receives clarity on these aspects.

Analytical Approach

For arriving at the ratings, CRISIL has combined the business and financial risk profiles of OIL and its subsidiaries, Optiemus Infracom International FZE, One World Teleservices Pvt Ltd, OEL, Optiemus Infracom (Singapore) Pte Ltd, and MTPL, which are into agriculture and mining in the UAE, distribution of international Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards, assembling of mobile phones, and civil construction in Singapore, respectively. This is because all the companies have common ownership and management, and get financial support from OIL.

Key Rating Drivers & Detailed Description
Strengths
* Established market position backed by status as national distributor for mobile handsets and tablets of Samsung India Electronics Pvt Ltd (Samsung) and HTC Corporation (HTC)
The Optiemus group is one of the largest players in the mobile handset distribution industry across all brands. It caters to the requirement of modern/organised trade for Samsung and HTC, covering the retail chain network across India. It has a reputed and strong clientele, comprising organised retailers such as The Mobile Store, Spice Retail (HotSpot), Sangeetha Mobiles, PlanetM Retail (Next), Value Industries (Digiworld), and Future Retail (EZone). The group has 27 offices cum warehouses, and delivers to 2400 retail stores across India. The business risk profile will continue to be supported by the expertise of the promoters.

* Promoters' experience in assembling mobile phones under group companies
The promoters, through group company GDN Enterprises Pvt Ltd, have been assembling mobile phones for HTC, LG, and Zen Mobiles, and tablets for Micromax. Also, the Optiemus group is one of the largest players in the mobile handset distribution industry across all brands.
 
* Healthy capital structure: The capital structure is supported by comfortable total outside liabilities to tangible networth ratio of 1.47 times as on March 31, 2017. The ratio improved from 1.58 times as on March 31, 2016. Net cash accrual is expected to remain subdued vis-a-vis debt obligation, and hence, the capital structure will remain susceptible to the extent of capital expenditure and its funding.
 
Weakness
* Modest debt protection metrics: Debt protection metrics declined over the past three fiscals because of continuous decline in turnover and low operating margin of 1.95-2.9%. Even with decline in working capital requirement because of reduction in scale of operations, debt has not come down because of increase in non-current investments. This has significantly impacted debt protection metrics.
 
* Exposure to risks associated with supplier concentration
As the market share of Samsung is dwindling and HTC does not have a sizeable presence in India, the Optiemus group will need to add brands to reduce supplier concentration risk, leverage its strong distribution network, and counter the threat faced with the influx of cheaper Chinese brands. Addition of brands will enable increased sales and mitigate any change in operating policy of the principal suppliers.

* Exposure to intense competition: Chinese players such as LeEco, Xiaomi, Oppo, Lenovo, Vivo, OnePlus, and Gionee, which have feature-packed phones at lower price points, have captured significant market share in the mid- and premium-phone segments, which were hitherto the domain of established players such as Samsung, Apple, Sony, HTC, and Blackberry. However, Samsung is still the market leader and there exists a huge untapped market for smartphones in India, which is now the second largest smartphone market in the world.
About the Group

OEL is a third-party contract manufacturer of mobile phones. It is an 80:20 joint venture of OIL and Wistron Corporation, Taiwan. OEL manufactures and assembles mobile phones at its facility in Noida, which has installed capacity of 10 lakh phones per month.
 
Promoted by Mr Ashok Gupta, OIL is a national distributor for mobile products and tablets of Samsung and HTC to the organised trade segment in India since September 2014. The company is listed on the Bombay, Delhi, and Jaipur stock exchanges.
   
OIL was incorporated in 1993 as Akanksha Finvest Ltd (AFL) a non-banking financial company. In January 2009, Mr Gupta, the promoter of Telemart Communication India Pvt Ltd (TCIPL), which was a distributor of Samsung, took over the management of AFL. Subsequently, AFL was renamed Akanksha Cellular Ltd (ACL). In fiscal 2011, seven group companies, including TCIPL, were merged into ACL. The entity was subsequently renamed OIL.

Key Financial Indicators
As on / for the period ended March 31   2017 2016
Revenue Rs crore 1010.61 1853.82
Profit after tax Rs crore 9.88 18.08
PAT margin % 0.97 0.97
Adjusted debt/adjusted networth Times 0.95 0.96
Interest coverage Times 1.64 2.20

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 Rupee Term Loan NA NA Not Available 15.0 CRISIL BBB-/Watch Developing/Issuer not co operating
NA Cash Credit NA NA NA 7.0 CRISIL BBB-/Watch Developing/Issuer not co operating
NA Proposed Cash Credit Limit NA NA NA 3.0 CRISIL BBB-/Watch Developing/Issuer not co operating
*Issuer did not cooperate; based on best-available information
Annexure - Rating History for last 3 Years
  Current 2018 (History) 2017  2016  2015  Start of 2015
Instrument Type Quantum Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Rating
Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  25  CRISIL BBB-/(Watch) Developing (Issuer Not Cooperating)*    No Rating Change  10-10-17  CRISIL BBB-/Watch Developing (Issuer Not Cooperating)*  28-09-16  CRISIL BBB/Stable    --  -- 
Table reflects instances where rating is changed or freshly assigned. 'No Rating Change' implies that there was no rating change under the release.
*Issuer did not cooperate; based on best-available information
Annexure - Details of various bank facilities
Current facilities Previous facilities
Facility Amount (Rs.Crore) Rating Facility Amount (Rs.Crore) Rating
Cash Credit 7 CRISIL BBB-/Watch Developing/Issuer Not Cooperating Cash Credit 7 CRISIL BBB-/Watch Developing/Issuer Not Cooperating
Proposed Cash Credit Limit 3 CRISIL BBB-/Watch Developing/Issuer Not Cooperating Proposed Cash Credit Limit 3 CRISIL BBB-/Watch Developing/Issuer Not Cooperating
Rupee Term Loan 15 CRISIL BBB-/Watch Developing/Issuer Not Cooperating Rupee Term Loan 15 CRISIL BBB-/Watch Developing/Issuer Not Cooperating
Total 25 -- Total 25 --
Links to related criteria
CRISILs Approach to Financial Ratios
CRISILs Bank Loan Ratings - process, scale and default recognition
Framework for Assessing Information Adequacy Risk
Rating criteria for manufaturing and service sector companies
Rating Criteria for Mobile Telephony Services
CRISILs Approach to Recognising Default
CRISILs Criteria for rating short term debt
Mapping global scale ratings onto CRISIL scale

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