Rating Rationale
November 25, 2020 | Mumbai
Teesta Agro Industries Limited
Ratings migrated to 'CRISIL BBB-/Stable/CRISIL A3'
 
Rating Action
Total Bank Loan Facilities Rated Rs.48 Crore (Enhanced from Rs.37 Crore)
Long Term Rating CRISIL BBB-/Stable (Migrated from 'CRISIL BB+/Stable ISSUER NOT COOPERATING'*)
Short Term Rating CRISIL A3 (Migrated from 'CRISIL A4+ ISSUER NOT COOPERATING'*)
1 crore = 10 million
Refer to annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities
*Issuer did not cooperate; based on best-available information
Detailed Rationale

Due to inadequate information and in line with the guidelines of Securities and Exchange Board of India, CRISIL had migrated its ratings on the bank facilities of Teesta Agro Industries Ltd (Teesta) to 'CRISIL BB+/Stable/CRISIL A4+ Issuer Not Cooperating'. However, Teesta subsequently started sharing the requisite information necessary for carrying out a comprehensive review of the ratings. Consequently, CRISIL is migrating its ratings on the bank facilities of Teesta to 'CRISIL BBB-/Stable/CRISIL A3' from 'CRISIL BB+/Stable/CRISIL A4+ Issuer Not Cooperating'.
 
The ratings reflect Teesta's comfortable financial risk profile and established market presence. These strengths are partially offset by large working capital requirement and exposure to adverse regulatory changes.
 
Players in the fertiliser industry were impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, with nationwide lockdown declared by the central government leading to disruption in production and supply chain management. This had led to lower revenue by around a 10% in fiscal 2020 as Teesta generates a substantial portion of revenue in the last quarter of the fiscal. Hover, in fiscal 2021 even with 1.5 month of lockdowns, the revenue has seen only modest dip till half year fiscal 2021. They are expected to cover up this revenue loss going forward and also profitability is expected to be sustained.

Key Rating Drivers & Detailed Description
Strengths: 
* Comfortable financial risk profile
Financial risk profile should remain supported by the absence of any large, debt-funded capital expenditure (capex). Gearing was 0.02-0.16 time over the five fiscals through 2020 and stood at 0.02 time as on March 31, 2020; networth was Rs 91.92 crore. Debt protection metrics were healthy, with interest coverage and net cash accrual to total debt ratios of 4.13 times and 2.09 times, respectively, for fiscal 2020 (as against 5.39 times and 0.66 time in the previous year).
 
* Strong market position
Teesta is the sole manufacturer of single super phosphate (SSP) fertiliser in West Bengal and other northeastern states. The company has 10 marketing offices across West Bengal, Assam, Delhi and Punjab; it has also set up a unit in Rajasthan. Further, despite the government subsidy being insufficient to cover cost of transporting the fertiliser over large distances, the strategic location of Teesta's facilities enables it to comfortably reach out to farmers in the northeastern states that cultivate potatoes, oil seeds, mustard and vegetables.
 
Weaknesses
* Large working capital requirement
The working capital cycle may remain stretched over the medium term and hence will be closely monitored. Gross current assets increased to 363 days as on March 31, 2020, from 274 days a year ago as inventory rose to around 211 days from 154 days. Further, the working capital is constrained by delay (sometimes by over 180 days) in dues from the government for subsidy; debtors have improved a bit since the last two years and may further get better with the implementation of the Direct Benefit Transfer (for subsidy) initiative, wherein the amount can be transferred in 7 working days.
 
* Susceptibility to government regulations
As the fertiliser industry is strategically important, it will continue to be extensively regulated by the government.
Liquidity Adequate

Liquidity should remain comfortable. Although cash accrual reduced to Rs 3.91 crore in fiscal 2020 from Rs 4.76 crore last year due to decline in sales in the last quarter of the fiscal, it was sufficient to meet the yearly debt obligation of Rs 93 lakh. Cash accrual is projected at Rs 4.0-4.5 crore per annum over the medium term, against maturing debt of Rs 1 crore in fiscal 2021 and Rs 87 lakh in fiscal 2022. The fund-based bank limit of Rs 23.0 crore (enhanced from Rs 17.5 crore in August 2020; not disbursed yet) was modestly utilised at an average of 36% during the 12 months through September 2020, while the non-fund-based limit of Rs 25 crore (enhanced from 17.5 crore; not disbursed yet) was used at 54%. Unencumbered cash, bank and liquid investment stood at Rs 9.2 crore as on March 31, 2020 and an average of Rs 2-3 crore is expected to be maintained at all times. Teesta had also taken covid 19 related moratorium on working capital limits from banks, and has paid the dues post the moratorium was lifted.

Outlook: Stable

Teesta should continue to benefit from its strong market position in the fertiliser business in the northern districts of West Bengal and northeastern states of India.

Rating Sensitivity factors
Upward factors
* Revenue increasing to over Rs 130 crore along with steady rise in profitability
* Significant improvement in working capital cycle, thereby declining debt
 
Downward factors
* Steep decline in revenue and profitability, resulting in cash accrual below Rs 2 crore
* Any large, debt-funded capex
About the Company

Teesta, incorporated in September 1986 by Mr Hardev Singh, manufactures fertilisers such as SSP, mixture fertilisers in various grades, granulated single sulphur phosphate, nitrogen phosphorus potassium fertiliser and sulphuric acid.
 
The products are sold under the brand, Kanchan, which is well-reputed in eastern and northeastern states of India with a major focus in West Bengal. With addition of the new manufacturing plant in Rajasthan, Teesta further spread its operations to Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
 
Teesta has its manufacturing facility in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal. It has another unit at Gangur (Chittorgarh, Rajasthan) for manufacturing SSP in powder and granular forms, with installed capacity of 1,85,000 tonne per annum and 1,32,000 tonne per annum, respectively. The Rajasthan unit commenced operations from September 2016.

Key Financial Indicators
Particulars Unit 2020 2019
Revenue Rs crore 91.75 102.79
Profit after tax (PAT) Rs crore 1.93 2.84
PAT margin % 2.10 2.76
Adjusted debt/adjusted networth Times 0.02 0.08
Interest coverage Times 4.13 4.5

Status of non cooperation with previous CRA:
Teesta had not cooperated with Credit Analysis & Research Ltd (CARE), which classified it as non-cooperative vide release dated April 23, 2020. The reason provided by CARE is non-furnishing of information by Teesta for monitoring of ratings.

Any other information: Not applicable

Note on complexity levels of the rated instrument:
CRISIL complexity levels are assigned to various types of financial instruments and are included (where applicable) in the Annexure -- Details of Instrument in this Rating Rationale. For more details on the CRISIL complexity levels, please visit www.crisil.com/complexity-levels.
Annexure - Details of Instrument(s)
ISIN Name of instrument Date of allotment Coupon rate (%) Maturity date Issue size (Rs Crore) Complexity Levels Rating assigned with outlook
NA Cash Credit NA NA NA 23 NA CRISIL BBB-/Stable
NA Bank Guarantee NA NA NA 2 NA CRISIL A3
NA Letter of Credit NA NA NA 23 NA CRISIL A3
Annexure - Rating History for last 3 Years
  Current 2020 (History) 2019  2018  2017  Start of 2017
Instrument Type Outstanding Amount Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Rating
Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  23.00  CRISIL BBB-/Stable  30-06-20  CRISIL BB+/Stable (Issuer Not Cooperating)*  30-03-19  CRISIL BBB-/Stable          Suspended 
Non Fund-based Bank Facilities  LT/ST  25.00  CRISIL A3  30-06-20  CRISIL A4+ (Issuer Not Cooperating)*  30-03-19  CRISIL A3          Suspended 
All amounts are in Rs.Cr.
*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
Bank Guarantee 2 CRISIL A3 Bank Guarantee 2 CRISIL A4+/Issuer Not Cooperating
Cash Credit 23 CRISIL BBB-/Stable Cash Credit 17.5 CRISIL BB+/Stable/Issuer Not Cooperating
Letter of Credit 23 CRISIL A3 Letter of Credit 17.5 CRISIL A4+/Issuer Not Cooperating
Total 48 -- Total 37 --
Links to related criteria
Assessing Information Adequacy Risk
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 Fertiliser Industry
CRISILs Approach to Recognising Default
CRISILs Bank Loan Ratings
CRISILs Criteria for rating short term debt
Mapping global scale ratings onto CRISIL scale
The Rating Process

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