Rating Rationale
June 14, 2019 | Mumbai
Oxygen Business Park Private Limited
Rating upgraded to 'CRISIL AA/Stable'
 
Rating Action
Total Bank Loan Facilities Rated Rs.200 Crore (Reduced from Rs.620 Crore)
Long Term Rating CRISIL AA/Stable (Upgraded from 'CRISIL A/Stable')
1 crore = 10 million
Refer to annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities
Detailed Rationale

CRISIL has upgraded its rating on the Rs 200 crore term loan facility of Oxygen Business Park Private Limited (Oxygen) to 'CRISIL AA/Stable' from 'CRISIL A/Stable'. CRISIL has also withdrawn its rating on the company's Rs 420 crore dropline overdraft (O/D) facility at the company's request and on receipt of the no-dues certificate from the lenders. The withdrawal was in line with CRISIL policy.

The upgrade reflects significant improvement in the company's financial risk profile subsequent to repayment of the Rs 420 crore dropline O/D facility. Oxygen (formerly, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Blackstone group) has now been fully acquired by Embassy Office Parks REIT (Embassy REIT; rated 'CRISIL AAA/Stable'). Post listing of Embassy REIT in April 2019, a large portion of external debt in its underlying special purpose vehicles was paid off, Oxygen being one such entity. As a consequence, debt protection metrics of Oxygen have improved, with debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) and loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of over 2.0 times and below 25%, respectively. The company does not plan to draw down any incremental debt over the next 6-12 months, and its financial risk profile should remain comfortable till the loan's bullet repayment in June 2020. However, incremental debt may adversely constrain debt protection metrics and will remain a key rating sensitivity factor.

The rating continues to reflect Oxygen's strong debt protection metrics and steady cash flow, supported by healthy occupancy of its property and reputed clients. These strengths are partially offset by susceptibility to risks related to development of, and demand for, additional leasable space and vulnerability of cash flows to occupancy level due to customer concentration.

Analytical Approach

CRISIL has taken a standalone view on Oxygen since there is no other asset in the books of the company, and there is limited financial fungibility with the parent Embassy REIT.

Unsecured loan of Rs 420 crore extended to Oxygen by the promoters has been treated as neither debt nor equity. This is because these loans are from the promoters, are long-term in nature and do not have any scheduled interest payment or principal repayment date. Additionally, these loans are sub-ordinated to the external debt. 

Key Rating Drivers & Detailed Description
Strengths
* Strong debt protection metrics: Debt protection metrics are strong, with DSCR of over 2.0 times and LTV ratio of below 25%. This provides significant cushion towards refinancing of the loan, which has a bullet repayment in June 2020. Furthermore, Oxygen derives synergies from being part of the Blackstone and Embassy groups, which have a significant track record of successfully refinancing loans/renegotiating terms of debt for their other entities. Additionally, Oxygen has entered into an agreement with Embassy REIT, wherein the parent may extend loans of Rs 200 crore (to repay the construction loan) to Oxygen, if required.

* Steady cash flow, supported by high occupancy with good clientele: Around 90% area of the company's operational commercial information technology (IT) park i.e. phase 1 and tower 3 in phase 2 was leased as of March 2019. The property has an operational track record of seven years. Overall vacancy reduced to around 8% (down from 11.5% in February 2018), with tenants such as exlService.com (India) and NTT Data Information taking up additional space. The manager of REIT has considerable experience in asset management at both local and national level and has one of the largest portfolio of commercial and retail properties in India. This, coupled with the management's proactive approach towards property maintenance and asset quality, ensures tenant stickiness.

Weaknesses
* Project implementation risk with respect to development of additional leasable space: Exposure to project implementation risk persists, given the early stage of development of the additional leasable space. The company is developing phase 2 of its commercial complex, which consists of three towers, with total leasable space of 18.0 lakh square feet (sq. ft.). Construction is being done in a phased manner, with tower 3, with leasable area of 4.6 lakh sq. ft., being complete, and tower 2, with leasable area of 5.8 lakh sq. ft., under construction. The second tower is expected to be completed by December 2019, and leasing is likely to be done by March 2020 (~90% has been preleased). Construction of the last tower - tower 1 (with leasable area of 7.1 lakh sq. ft.) - is expected to commence post completion and substantial leasing of tower 2. Any delay in project construction could adversely affect completion; hence, leasing of additional space (total of 5.6 lakh sq. ft.) will remain a key rating sensitivity factor.

* High customer concentration: The top five tenants occupy around 80% of the leased area, exposing the company to revenue concentration and contract renewal risks. The top tenants are established corporates and are likely to continue to occupy the property. However, if any of them vacates the premises, and new agreements are not signed on time, debt protection metrics will weaken. Although the cash flow will, likely, be able to absorb the impact of fluctuations in interest rates and occupancy to some extent, it will remain a rating sensitivity factor.
Liquidity

Liquidity is adequate, with cash and liquid surplus of around Rs 4 crore as on March 31, 2019. Furthermore, the well-defined escrow mechanism enables prioritisation of cash flows to service debt obligation before the surplus cash flows are made available to sponsors. 

Outlook: Stable

CRISIL believes Oxygen's debt protection metrics will remain strong, backed by steady cash flow from lease rentals and low debt.

Upside scenario:
* Significant improvement in debt protection metrics, supported by substantially higher-than-expected cash flow
* Faster-than-expected project execution and leasing

Downside scenario:
* Weakening of debt protection metrics on account of lower-than-expected cash flow due to high vacancy rates or low lease rental
* Delay or cost overrun in construction of additional leasable space
* Drawdown of more-than-anticipated additional debt.

About the Company

Oxygen is a wholly owned subsidiary of Embassy REIT. It owns and operates a commercial IT park in Sector 144, Greater Noida. The property is part of the Oxygen Boulevard IT Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and has been operational for seven years. The grade A property consists of phase 1 with 6 towers and leasable area of 14.5 lakh sq. ft. The property had healthy occupancy of 92% as of March 31, 2019. Phase 2, currently being developed, comprises 3 towers with total leasable area of around 18 lakh sq. ft. Tower 3 is operational and leasing for 3 lakh sq. ft. was tied up as of March 2019, while tower 2 is currently under construction.

The lease agreements are spread over 5-15 years, with a lock-in period of 1-3 years and in-built lease rental escalation every 3-5 years.

About the Parent
Embassy REIT is registered as an irrevocable trust under the Indian Trust Act, 1882, and registered with SEBI's Real Estate Investment Trust Regulations, 2014, as amended, as a REIT. Embassy REIT's portfolio is held through 13 SPVs: Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Pvt Ltd, Quadron Business Park Pvt Ltd, Embassy One Developers Pvt Ltd, Qubix Business Park Pvt Ltd, Earnest Towers Pvt Ltd, Vikhroli Corporate Park Pvt Ltd, Galaxy Square Pvt Ltd, Oxygen Business Park Pvt Ltd, Manyata Promoters Pvt Ltd, Embassy Energy Pvt Ltd, Umbel Properties Pvt Ltd, Embassy Office Parks Pvt Ltd, and Golflinks Software Park Pvt Ltd.

Key Financial Indicators
As on/for the period ended March 31, Unit 2019* 2018
Operating income Rs crore 121 109
Profit After Tax (PAT) Rs crore 25.9 16.6
PAT Margin % 21.3 15.2
Adjusted debt/adjusted networth Times 1.58 1.28
Interest coverage Times 3.05 2.93
*Provisional

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 Drop Line Overdraft Facility NA NA 9-April-19* 420 Withdrawn
NA Term loan NA NA 30-Jun-20 200 CRISIL AA/Stable
*Actual Date of Repayment
Annexure - Rating History for last 3 Years
  Current 2019 (History) 2018  2017  2016  Start of 2016
Instrument Type Outstanding Amount Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Rating
Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  200.00  CRISIL AA/Stable      03-07-18  CRISIL A/Stable  03-08-17  CRISIL A-/Stable    --  -- 
                18-04-17  CRISIL A-/Stable       
                16-01-17  CRISIL BBB+/Stable       
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
Drop Line Overdraft Facility 420 Withdrawn Drop Line Overdraft Facility 420 CRISIL A/Stable
Term Loan 200 CRISIL AA/Stable Term Loan 200 CRISIL A/Stable
Total 620 -- Total 620 --
Links to related criteria
CRISILs Approach to Financial Ratios
CRISILs Bank Loan Ratings - process, scale and default recognition
The Rating Process

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